a little help from my friends...
by Ben Myatt
Summary: Jun is trapped in a relationship where she is suffering, when out of the blue, help appears in the form of Tai Kamiya...
1. Thank god it's friday...

Disclaimer. *Sings, to the tune of "Sergeant peppers lonely hearts club band"* It's another fic from Ben Myatt's hand! He hopes you will enjoy the show! He doesn't own Digimon, but what the hell, Sit back and let the writing go…  *stops* no, I don't own the Beatles either. The titles a tribute to them. Natch. 

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With a little help from my friends…

By Ben Myatt.

********

Chapter 1: Thank god it's Friday…

********

"Max! I'm going to work!" Jun Motomiya yelled.

"Fine. Just be back on time tonight." Max called back. He hadn't even turned away from the TV.

Jun sighed, and opened the door. Walking out onto the rainy street, she pulled her car keys from her pocket, and went to where her station wagon was waiting, like a lying dog. Sliding the key into the lock, she pulled the door open, and turned the key in the ignition. 

Nothing.

"Oh, man, don't do this to me!" she groaned.

She turned it again. Still nothing. Leaning forward, she settled her head against the windscreen. Brought it back, and banged it forward again. Her nurse's uniform was little protection against the rain. She hated Friday night shifts. All the drunks who'd managed to get into fights were fairly abusive to the nurses who tried to help them.

Mind you, she didn't exactly relish weekends anymore. It was almost a year since she'd been out with friends, or been out in general.

She sighed, and turned the key one last time. Finally, The cars engine sputtered into life, and she pulled out onto the road.

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"You're late, Nurse Motomiya."

"I know, doctor. Sorry."

"Step into my office please."

Jun groaned inwardly. Doctor Krayle was her immediate supervisor on the casualty ward. This was not going to be pretty. He gestured for her to sit in front of his desk, and sat down behind it.

"Ms Motomiya, your punctuality has been getting consistently worse over the past year. Would you care to enlighten me as to the reason?"

Jun wanted to tell him. To tell him everything. But she didn't. Instead, she just shook her head. Krayle looked annoyed.

"Then how about I make a wild guess. Roll up your sleeve please."

Jun hesitated, and then shrugged, and rolled up her sleeve. The dark-blue bruising on her arm was apparent against her skin.

"May I ask how you came by those bruises?"

"I slipped on the stairs at my house. Fell on my arm."

Krayle's eyebrow rose slightly. 

"Are you sure?"

Jun nodded. But the doctor noticed how she avoided his gaze. He sighed.

"Alright Ms Motomiya. Go about your duties. Just be careful of having any more 'accidents' in the future."

His voice stressed the word accidents, which only made Jun feel guiltier about lying to him. She stepped outside, and closed the door behind her.

Krayle sighed. He had seen this sort of thing before, someone who refused to admit that the person who was abusing him or her actually was, whether because they believed that they loved that person, or because they were afraid of them. He closed his eyes for a moment. Then he turned and opened a file. Nothing he could do about it. 

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Jun slumped outside the office, and let out a deep breath. 

"You look like hell."

She looked up, and saw Talla standing there. Talla was probably the closest thing she had to a friend, given that she hardly ever left the house any more.

"Thanks. It's nice to see you too."

She straightened, and Talla grabbed hold of her arm to help her. Jun flinched, and pulled the limb away. Talla glowered.

"Did he hit you again?" she asked.

Jun shook her head.

"I fell down the stairs."

"Bullshit. Why don't you just leave him, Jun?"

"Is it any of you goddamned business?"

Talla shrugged.

"Fine. Just trying to help."

A bustle at the entrance to the ward startled them.

"Uh-oh. Looks like trouble." Said Jun.

"Yup. Lets go."

The two nurses rushed to where a man was holding a male orderly up against a wall.

"You don't touch me…" the man slurred.

"We're trying to help!" shouted the orderly.

Jun grabbed hold of the man's arm. Immediately, he lashed the arm back, catching her across the face. Talla yelled, and came to her friend's aid. Before any of them could do anything, however, help came from an unexpected source.

A brown-headed man, blood already on his face, rushed in, and drove a low punch under the drunkard's ribs. The man turned to face him, and the attacker, whose was facing away from Jun, head-butted him savagely. The drunkard fell to the floor, and their saviour turned to look at the two nurses. When he spoke, there wasn't a trace of drunkenness in his voice.

"Are you okay?"

Jun started at the voice. She knew that voice, although she hadn't heard it in a long time.

"Tai?"

Tai Kamiya recognised her at the same time, and wiped the blood from his face. It was streaming from a cut on his forehead.

"Hi Jun."

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"So, how've you been?"

Jun shrugged.

"I get by. I have a boyfriend, a home. Everything a girl needs."

He flashed her a devilish grin.

"A boyfriend, huh? What a pity."

She glared at him, as he raised the coffee cup to his lips. He caught the look, and grinned again.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Tai Kamiya."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

She grinned. Nurses who were attacked by patients were given the next hour off to recover, so she was having a coffee with an old friend.

"Okay, your turn. Why were you here?"

He pulled a badge out of his back pocket, and flashed it at her.

"I'm a cop. The drunkard you had a close encounter with is someone we have a strong suspicion of pushing drugs, so I was tailing him to see if he tried to sell. Followed him to this hospital, where he was pulled after having a little too much beer. Unfortunately, I got too close, and he recognised me. Crowned me with a bottle, and then the orderly tried to get involved. The rest you know."

He leaned back, and almost subconsciously, pulled a ciggarette from a packet. She glared at him, and he pushed it back in.

"Sorry. So, why haven't you contacted any of us?"

"I've been… busy."

"Too busy to call your brother? Davis is running himself ragged. Although I suspect that might have as much to do with dating Kari as anything else."

She laughed.

"I'll bet. Anyways, I just haven't had the time to call. I'm working hard to pay the rent on my house."

"What about your boyfriend? Surely he works?"

"He's a photographer. Freelance work only. And there hasn't been much around."

"fair enough. But do me a favour. Call Davis, or at least meet us all for a drink."

Jun looked away.

"I'm… sorry Tai. I cant. And I have to get back to work now."

She started to get up, but Tai grabbed hold of her arm.

"Let go, Tai!"

She flinched as his hand came down square on the bruising. She pulled out of his grip, and walked away, leaving him gaping after her.

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A/N:

Yeah, I know, not a very exciting first chapter, but we all have our off days. This is gonna be pretty much a pure romance fic. And yes, I DO like Taijun. Mainly I'm writing this cos I got bored. I'm waiting a few weeks to start my next Big Daikari fic, and I just felt like it.

-Ben Myatt.


	2. Everyone has those days...

Chapter 2: Everyone has those days…

********

Tai sat at his computer in police headquarters, and tapped out his report. His superiors weren't exactly happy about the fact that their prime suspect had seen him. They were even less happy about the fact that Tai had punched the guy out.

He sighed. No rest for the weary. He lifted the coffee cup to his lips, drank, and typed out a few more sentences.

"The diligent drug cop, hard at work." Came the slightly sardonic voice.

Tai looked up, and grinned.

"Hey, Cody. What are you doing here, I thought you were hard at work in the law department?"

The young man grinned back at him. Despite his young age, Cody had been put on the immediate fast track in the legal department of the OPD. Mainly due to the fact that he was completely incorruptible. He didn't even like to lie to the chief superintendent, and hell, even Tai did that.

"I am. Got sent up here to get your statement regarding your assault on a certain suspect."

Tai shrugged.

"I already told the boss. It was my own fault. I got too close, he recognised me, and crowned me with a bottle. And orderly tried to get involved, along with a pair of nurses, and he turned on them, I put him down to protect them, as is my duty."

Cody nodded.

"A very well worded piece of bullshit. It'll do. We might need to get into contact with the nurses and the orderly though. You get their names?"

"Only one. Guess who?"

Cody shook his head, and Tai grinned again.

"Jun Motomiya."

The young legal officers eyes widened.

"You're shitting me!"

Despite his upbringing, since Cody had entered the police force, he'd developed one hell of a dirty vocabulary. Tai shook his head.

"Daisuke's sister, in the flesh."

"And which part of her flesh were you admiring?" Cody smirked.

Tai gaped at him.

"Jesus, Cody! I remember when you were the polite one!"

Cody just smirked even more widely.

"That doesn't answer my question."

Tai glared at him, then shrugged.

"She was undeniably cute, that I admit."

"But…?"

"Cody! She's got a boyfriend, okay?"

"You mean you met a girl who wasn't instantly smitten with you? Tai, I'm disappointed."

Tai laughed.

"Let me get on with my work, you little bastard!"

Cody, laughing himself, walked out of the room. Tai shook his head, and went back to work.

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Jun slowly pushed open the door to her house. She could smell something, but she couldn't quite place what.

"Max? You home?"

No reply. She went through to the lounge, and he stood up from the chair. 

"Hey babe."

She flinched at the smell of the whiskey on his breath.

"Hey. What's that smell?" 

"What smell?"

She sighed, exasperatedly. The she spotted the clay pipe that lay by the chair, singeing a circle on her carpet.

"What the hell…"

She scooped it up, and sniffed it. When recognised the pungent odour now. Spinning around, she glared at him.

"Max! You promised me!"

He glared right back at her.

"So what? You can't order me around!"

She looked away from him.

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself, Max? Why do you have to keep going back to this stuff?"

He snatched the pipe from her.

"None of your goddamned business, Jun!" 

"None of my business? I'm your girlfriend, for god's sake!"

He grinned viciously.

"Then why don't you act it, and make my dinner, honey?"

Her eyes narrowed, and what was left of Jun Motomiya burst from her mouth at him.

"MAKE YOUR OWN DINNER!!!"

His eyes lit up with a dangerous inner fire. 

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! I'm going out. You can make your own damn dinner."

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist.

"You're not going anywhere, Jun."

"Get your hands off me, Max!"

He spun her around, and slammed her against the wall.

"I said you're not going anywhere!"

Bringing round his other hand, he slapped her across the face. Even though the blow didn't have much force behind it, Jun's head slammed against the doorframe, and she fell unconscious.

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Tai debated with himself over whether to abuse his abilities, and then decided to go ahead with it.

The police mainframe was connected to the city registry office, and Tai brought up the name lookup. Glancing round to make sure the office was completely deserted, he typed in the name  "Jun Motomiya."

And address immediately flashed up, and Tai printed it off. Pulling the paper from the printer, he folded it and pushed it into his pocket. Just as he turned his monitor off, Cody called from the corridor.

"Tai?"

"Yeah?"

"We're going down the pub. You coming?"

"…Why not. Lemme grab my coat."

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When Jun awoke, she was lying on her bed, with a cold compress lying on her forehead. Max was sitting at her side.

"I'm sorry, Jun."

"I know you are."

"DO you forgive me?"

"…Yeah."

She didn't know what else to say. She supposed she could have said no, but then where would that have left her? What would she do if he left?

She didn't know.

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(A/N)

Yes, I KNOW my rule is one chapter a week, but I'm gonna be away for two weeks from Saturday, so I thought I'd write this one early.

On another note, just in case your interested, I happen to have a little website that I'm quite proud of. It has all of my Digimon fanfictions on it, and I tend to update it a day before my fanfiction.net profile. Also, I now have a mailing list. 

DO YOU SEE WHERE I AM GOING WITH THIS???

-Ben.


	3. I cant be bothered to think of another c...

Chapter 3: I can't be bothered to write another chapter title. Make your own up.

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Jun awoke late on Sunday morning, her only day off that week, to find a note pinned to her pillow.

_Jun, I've gone to try and find some work. Don't sleep in too late babe._

_-Max._

She grinned, and got up to make the coffee.

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Tai, on the other hand, woke up with a screaming headache. He checked the other side of the bed, and was relieve to find that it was empty.

'Thank heaven for small mercies. I don't think I could face anyone else this morning.'

He went downstairs, to find Cody at the kitchen table. The younger man was reading a newspaper. Tai and Cody had been lodging together for a good while now, purely because neither of them could afford a place of their own on police salaries.

"Morning. Sleep well?"

"I think I'm dead."

"After the amount you put away, I'm not surprised."

"Piss off, Cody."

He pulled bacon and eggs out of the refrigerator, and started to make himself breakfast.

"So, you were working pretty hard last night."

Tai grunted.

"And not in anyway using police privileges for personal uses."

Tai turned to look at him.

"Look, if it's about the spare handcuffs, I could probably direct you to the person whose looking after them. She'd like you."

"You know what I mean. You know the address-finder is for police use only."

Tai glared at his friend.

"I don't know what you mean."

"And Jun Motomiya's address just found it's way into your jacket by accident?"

"She was a witness to the attacks. You said it yourself."

"Bull."

"What do you want from me, Cody?"

"A little co-operation. Why did you get her address?"

"Because… I'm worried about her."

Cody frowned.

"Why?"

Tai finished cooking, and doled the food onto plates. Grabbing the coffee pot, he turned and sat down at the table.

"Remember when we walked the beat, and we used to go into the bad part of town? We used to see people who had no hope, but were putting on a brave face to cover it. I saw the exact same expression on Jun Motomiya's face on Friday."

"You think she's in trouble? But if she was in trouble, she'd have told Davis, right?"

Tai shook his head doubtfully.

"Cody, if there's one thing I've learnt about the Motomiya family, it's that they're the most headstrong people I've ever met. Jun and Davis would avoid asking for help while they still thought they could help themselves." 

He took a swig from his coffee cup (A/N: Jeez, they're all Caffeine addicts in this fic!) and carried on speaking.

"And usually, they're too late by the time they do ask for help."

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Jun went about happily making her breakfast, until the phone rang, interrupting her. She flipped the receiver off its cradle, and held it in place between her ear and shoulder.

"Jun Motomiya here."

"Hey babe."

She grinned.

"Hi Max. How goes the interview?"

His silence told her what she needed to know.

"They didn't offer it to you, did they?"

"It happens."

She frowned at his nonchalant tone.

"Max, we can't go on like this, we'll lose the house if we cant keep up the payments."

"I know that Jun. I'm trying."

She sighed. He caught the sound.

"Look, I'll be home in a while, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure. I'm gonna go out for a while."

"Your what?"

There was a dangerous edge to his voice. Jun felt a spark of anger.

"You heard me, I'm gonna go out."

"No. You're not gonna do that."

"Who the hell are you to tell me what I'm going to do?!? I can do what I like!"

"And I'm telling you, if you go out, you wont be coming back into that house, at least not tonight."

"You're telling me…"

"Yeah. You know how long it takes to change a lock Jun? I could do it in an hour. I already have a spare set of lock and keys."

She didn't answer. Instead, she slammed the phone down on its cradle. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She was being held a virtual prisoner in her own home, free to walk out, but not to walk back in. she was trapped. 

She curled into a ball in the living room, and started to cry.

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Max came back an hour later.

"Still here?" he asked, with a slight sneer in his voice.

"Where else would I be?" she replied.

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(A/N)

I know, not a particularly long chapter, but I'm in a serious downpoint for imaginative ideas at the moment. It's gonna pick up over the next couple of chapters.

Promise. ^_^

By the way, I hope you know you could've been reading this chapter on my website. YESTERDAY.


	4. insert witty chapter title here

Chapter 4: (insert witty chapter title here.)

********

"I'm off the case?"

Tai looked at the chief incredulously. He hadn't expected this when he walked into work on Monday morning. 

"I'm afraid so. We can't risk using you again, Tai."

"But… why?"

"Well, for a start, you're a maverick officer. You take too many chances."

Tai glowered, but said nothing.

"And secondly, you're known to the peddlers now. Word got around about your little tussle in the hospital. We can't effectively use you in the field anymore."

"So what now?"

"I'm going to post you in the observation office. You'll still be involved."

"How, by watching the computers all day? Seeing other people doing the dirty work?"

"It's all we've got, Tai. You know that."

"Oh, I don't know…"

"What do you mean?"

Tai calmly took his badge out of his pocket, and placed it on the desk. Then he turned and walked out.

When he reached his desk, he sank down, and let his head slip into his hands.

ShitshitshitshitshitSHIT!

What the hell had he gone and done that for? His job was everything to him. He didn't have anywhere else to go.

He slammed his head onto his desk. Hard. Then he pulled a cardboard box out from underneath, and started to place his belongings inside.

At least he still had the house. He had brought that years ago, when it was little more than a dilapidated wreck, and rebuilt most of it himself, in the spare time he had. Money wasn't a problem either, considering he had a share of the royalties from movies and TV-shows about himself and the other Digidestined.

He placed his stereo in the bottom of the box, and stood. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. He forced himself to look up, meeting their gaze.

"Well. See you around, guys."

There were some muffled "See ya's." but what they really meant was, "goodbye."

He tucked the box under his arm, and walked out of the door.

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"Fired?"

"I'm sorry, Nurse Motomiya. The fact is, that I have to give your job to someone who turns up to it."

Jun didn't say anything. What was there to say? Dr Krayle looked her over. 

"I truly am sorry, Miss Motomiya."

She didn't fail to notice that he had dropped the "Nurse." She stared at her feet, feeling the tears well up behind her eyes. She bitterly pulled them back. Krayle looked distinctly upset at the fact that she was leaving.

"Unless there are mitigating circumstances…?"

She looked up at him sharply. His blue eyes bored into hers. She could tell him about Max, she could…

"No, sir."

The words were out of her mouth before she even thought about stopping them. She had gotten so used to lying, that by now she did it on automatic. Well, what was she supposed to tell him? 

'Yes sir, I haven't been into work because my boyfriend told me that if I left the house he'd change the locks and refuse to let me back in. and no, I wont go to my family for help, because I left wanting to stand on my own two feet.'

She stood to go.

"Miss Motomiya."

She looked at him.

"Sir?"

He pushed a leaflet across the table towards her, and she picked it up. It gave details of training for a doctor's course down at the local college.

"You have the qualifications for it. It might be useful to you. And here."

He handed her another sheet of paper.

"Your references."

She nodded, and walked out of the room, out of the hospital, and into the street.

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Tai's sat with his head flat against the surface of the bar, and his hand wrapped around the pint of bitter.

"I gather that you had a rough day." Said Liam Dillon (A/N HURRAH!!!) the Irish owner and bartender of the pub.

"Dude, you have NO idea." 

"So talk. Didn't you know that's what the bartenders here for?"

"What can I say? I screwed up a tactical operation, and got relegated to the tech-unit. I didn't want to do that, so I quit. On top of that, I used a confidential police system to find someone's address for personal reasons."

"Eh, could be worse."

"Do you mean that."

"…No, you're screwed." 

Tai raised his head, and glared at the big man.

"Thanks. That makes me feel a whole lot better."

He didn't turn as another person stepped into the bar, but he heard Liam muffle a slight gasp of surprise.

"Hello Tai. Didn't expect anyone else to be here."

He turned to look into Jun's eyes. 

"I didn't expect to be here. Pull up a chair, cos I suddenly suspect I'm not the only one whose having a really shitty day."

Jun nodded, and sat beside him. 

"You would be right. I got fired this morning."

"Ouch, and heres me, who quit on a rash decision."

"Yeah… anyway, I'm meeting my Boyfriend here."

At that moment Max walked in through the door. Jun smiled sadly at him.

"Hi, honey."

Max nodded, and sat on her other side. Jun coughed, and turned to Tai.

"Tai, this is Max. Max, this is Tai, one of my friends from a while ago."

Tai looked at the other man. His policemen's eye didn't fail to notice the slight stain of whitish powder on Max's shirt. Max followed his gaze, and then looked back up at Tai, who shrugged.

"You missed a spot."

Max's eyes narrowed. And he got up and came over to Tai.

"Have you got something to say to me?"

"I think you just heard me say it. Back off."

Tai could tell that the man was high, and getting into fights with people who were high was a dangerous thing to do. Max grabbed his shirt, and spun him round.

"And what if I don't want to back off? Are you gonna make me."

Suddenly, Liam was looming over the bar. 

"He wont, even though he could take you to the cleaners, boy. I will though, if you don't sit your arse down."

Max glared at the Irishman.

"Fuck off, you paddy piece of shit."

He didn't even have time to block, as Liam vaulted over the bar, and lifted him clean off of his feet.

"IF you really want a beating, boy, you'll be saying that again."

Tai pushed between them.

"Okay, the pair of you back the hell off. Now."

Liam looked down at the smaller man, and nodded dropping Max to the floor. Max however, just smirked.

"Irish asshole." 

Liam moved forward again, but Tai planted himself in firmly between them.

"He ain't worth it, Liam. Leave it."

Liam gave Max a dangerous look.

"Okay, Tai, but if he says anything more, he's my meat."

Liam stalked way into the Kitchen, and Tai turned round to look at Max. The other man was fixing him with a look. 

"What?"

Max didn't say anything, but slugged Tai in the jaw. The brown-haired man staggered back. Jun suddenly dashed forward.

"Max, don't do this!"

"Keep out of this, bitch."

He pushed her away, and she stumbled into the bar, cracking her head against the side. He didn't get the chance to do anything else.

The second Max had pushed Jun, Tai had moved forward. He slammed a fist into Max's gut, doubling the other man over, and then lifted a knee into his face, sending flipping over backwards. Max lay still.

Tai ran over to Jun, and called to Liam, who had come running from the kitchen.

"Call an ambulance!"

Liam nodded, and ran for the phone. Whilst he was there, he called the police as well.

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(A/N)

Yeah, I know, It's crap. Gimme a break, it's been a long week. First week of school, and I get there on the first day to find that the girl I like is going out with another guy I know. Dammit. Never mind, eh?

I hope everyone cheered for Liam! *waves Liam Dillon fan banner* it consistently surprises me how much people like him, considering he's an OC. Maybe someone can do me some fanart of him in the near future, hint hint. 

Anyways, until next chapter:

Ja ne! 


	5. hell with this I'm off down the pub

Chapter 5: 

Hell with this – I'm off down the pub. 

********

Jun was conscious of someone wiping her forehead. 

"Max?"

"Not likely. Honestly, Jun, can't you stay away from this place for more than an hour?"

"Talla? What are you doing here?"

She opened her eyes, and was immediately dazzled by the strength of the lights around her. As her eyes adjusted, she saw her friend.

"You got brought in, unconscious, three hours ago. It appears Max hit you, and you knocked your head. You've suffered a minor concussion, and your face looks like it's been through a mincer."

"Thankyou Talla. I love you too."

"It's not me you should be thanking, it's the guy who brought you in. He's a cutie, and no mistake."

"Huh?"

"Brown, spiky hair? Big, brown eyes, monumentally hot? Ring any bells?"

"Tai?"

"Yeah, I believe that's the name he answers to."

"HE brought me in? What happened to Max?"

"Oh. Him. He's in a holding cell down at the cop-shop. Assault, disturbing the peace…"

"Man…"  
  


"Jun, he's no good for you. He's been beating you up and taking advantage since he moved in with you. What the hell do you see in him?"

"He wasn't always that way, Talla."

"Whatever. Personally, I hope he goes down for a long time."

"Hmm." Jun said, noncommittally. She sat up slightly.

"Your brothers here as well." 

Jun looked up at her sharply. Talla returned the look with an even gaze.

"What? Your friend Tai called him. I can't control his actions."

"Great. All I need, Davis laughing at me."

"From what I could see, he wasn't laughing. He looked scared as hell for you until the doc told him you would be okay."

"I don't want to see him, Talla. I can't face him, not now."

"And why not?"

Davis stood framed in the doorway. The goggles that were balanced on his head gave him the still-boyish look that hid a steel determination, and the courage of a lion. Talla beat a hasty retreat, mumbling something about helping Doctor Krayle. 

"Why can't you face me, Jun?"  

She lay back again, and closed her eyes.

"You know why, Davis. You know that I cant go back to you guys, after attempting to make my own way in the world, and failing."

"You're an idiot, Jun, but you're an idiot that we all love. Come home! Mom misses you!"

"Then she'll have to go on missing me for a while!"

"Jun, you haven't even FUCKING spoken to her for over a year!"

"AND I'M NOT GONNA NOW!!!"

"Do you two mind keeping it down? There are people trying to sleep on this ward."

Tai peeked his head round the door, and glared at them. The tension between the two was palpable in its intensity. Davis turned on his heel, and stormed out. Tai moved aside to let him pass, and then stepped into the room.

"I suppose you're going to lecture me as well?"

"I think you've had enough lectures for today. I'm just gonna say goodnight."

He turned to go. 

"Tai."

"Yeah?"

"…Thankyou." 

He glanced over his shoulder, and grinned.

"Your welcome, Jun."

Then he left, and Jun settled back into the pillow. She thought about Max, in his prison cell, and then, unbidden, arose a thought of Tai. Before she could linger on it, sleep claimed her, his face in her mind.

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Davis was still pacing in the visiting lounge when Tai came back in. the younger man flashed him a lopsided grin.

"I didn't handle that to well, did I?"

"Let's just say you could use some lessons in tact. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. I just wish…"

He shook his head, cutting off the sentence. Then he looked at Tai, as if noticing for the first time the others ragged state. 

"You look like hell, you know that? Go and get some sleep."

Tai shook his head.

"I'd rather stay here. I owe her that."

"It's not your problem, Tai."

The older man grinned wryly.

"I kinda think it became my problem when I slugged out her boyfriend. That's what I owe her for, Davis. I've put her in a very difficult situation."

"Well, in my opinion she put herself there, but that's beside the point. I'm not gonna let Max get near her again. I'll kill him myself first."

"Davis, it's her choice. Whatever she wants to do, you'll have to go along with."

Davis Glowered. He didn't want to admit it, but Tai was right.

"Okay. Whatever. But you'd better keep an eye on her, Tai."

"Fine. You go and get some sleep, Davis."

The younger man nodded, and walked out, a dispirited look crossing his face. Tai flinched inwardly. Why the hell was he getting involved? He knew why, because he felt responsible, and because he didn't want to see Jun hurt. He sat back, and flipped through the magazine that lay on his lap, not seeing the words and pictures. His mind was in that little room down the hall, watching over a sleeping form.

"You okay?"

The other nurse, Jun's friend, Talla, was standing above him, a frown of concern knitting her brow. Tai nodded.

"Nothing a job and a decent amount of sleep wont cure. Yourself?"

"I'm okay. I want to thank you for helping Jun."

"No problem. I didn't mean to start anything. Well, actually, I didn't."

She grinned down at him, before sinking into the seat opposite.

"Whatever you did to Max, I'm sure he deserved it. He's a bastard."

He smiled at her.

"Well, I guess I turned out to be the bigger one of those."

He settled back again, and yawned.

"You really should go and get some sleep, you know."

Tai shook his head.

"I promised Davis I'd watch over her. I always keep my promises."

=============================================================

(A/N)

And that's another chapter of this one. Now that I have officially rid the traces of writers block from my system, I'm starting to enjoy the writing again. I love writing. Meh. And MEH again!

"I should do work… someone bring me my computer."


	6. Mandatory football chapter!

Chapter 6: Mandatory football (No, NOT soccer) chapter!

********

"So how's she doing?"

Cody moved past Tai as he asked the question, neatly scooping the ball with his right foot, and passing it over to Ken on the other side of the pitch.

"Jun? She's making a pretty good recovery. Doctors say she'll be back on her feet soon. She had a lot of heavy bruising."

The ball flew in his direction, and being a good three inches taller, he had the advantage over Cody when he leapt to head it back towards Matt, who caught it neatly before it went through the goalposts.

"You can do better that that, Kamiya!" called the blonde man.

Tai casually flipped him the finger, and walked over to the goal. The five-a-side team consisting of himself, Ken, Davis, Cody and Matt were just warming up. They didn't have a match until later today. All to quickly, he found his thoughts going to the hospital.

"Wake up, Tai."

"Huh?"

"Concentrating on where the ball is going usually helps."

Tai didn't have time to reply as the football smacked into the side of his head. He turned slowly, and glared at Davis and Ken, who were happily giggling on the other side of the pitch. Matt smiled slightly.

"Whoever she is, can't you keep your mind off her for ten minutes?"

"What makes you think it's a girl?"

"I didn't think you were the other way inclined."

"Well… I think it's time to tell you… I… Love you Matt!"

The Blonde haired man's jaw dropped, and he stammered his response.

"Erm… Tai… look, you know me and Sora…"

He stopped at the smirk on Tai's face, and glared instead.

"…You are such an asshole."

Tai started laughing, uncontrollable streams of laughter, that resulted in tears rolling down his face.

"Jesus Matt… the look on your face!"

"If you don't want to lose your most valued anatomical possession, Kamiya, you'll shut up now."

Davis and Ken, who'd been listening to the whole exchange, burst into fresh laughter, until Matt rounded on them.

"That goes for you two little dipshits too."

The two friends clammed up, desperately restraining giggling-fits, and even Cody was grinning. Matt favoured the whole team with a look of disdain.

"Oh, sod off, the lot of you."

=============================================================

Jun stuffed her clothing into her bag, and turned to the door.

"Are you going somewhere, Ms Motomiya?"

Dr Krayle stood in the door, a clipboard in his hand.

"Yes, out of here, as fast as I can." 

The young doctor leaned against the doorframe, and fixed her with a piercing gaze.

"I'm not sure I should allow that."

She cast a sideways look at him, before turning back to her bag.

"And how, precisely, are you going to stop me, doctor?"

He blinked. Then he shook his head and stepped aside to let her pass. 

"I hope you've thought about that offer I gave you?"

"The tuition course. I haven't had much of a chance."

"It's worth thinking about."

He smiled.

"Go on, get out of here. I'll have your medication sent on."

She gave him a grateful grin, and walked off down the hallway. 

Where to go now…?

The she remembered the Sunday League matches. She smiled. It was a long time since she'd been to a football game.

=============================================================

"Blue army!" came the shout from one supporter.

"BLUE ARMY!" chorused those around him. 

Tai grinned at the stands. Now that the rest of the team had joined them, he felt slightly less vulnerable. He glanced over to the other side of the pitch. Being a midfielder, the bulk of the games passing fell on his shoulders. He knew that behind him, Liam Dillon was in defence, ready for anything coming their way. That said, most attackers, at the sight of the huge Irishman, turned round and ran away.

The ball tapped lightly against his left instep, and he pushed it through the press of opposition Defenders. Davis was ahead of him, calling for the shot, arm in the air. He was close to a defender, but as Tai watched, the opposition player moved a couple of paces forward, neatly putting Davis offside. If Tai passed to him now, there would be a free kick to the other team.

Davis noticed at the same time, and started moving forward, but Tai took the call, and made the shot.

The ball sailed through the crisp air, and whistled past the Goalkeeper, shaking the netting at the back of the goal. 

Tai grinned, and ran back to his own half. Scoring a goal always made him feel pretty good.

=============================================================

Jun pressed in among the other people in the crowd, and smiled at Sora, who looked definitively shocked to see her.

"Jun? Jun Motomiya? I thought you were dead!"

Jun glared.

"Not funny, Sora."

"Sorry."

"What's the score?"

"One-nil up. Tai put in the goal, from the edge of the box."

"Cool. How long to go?"

Sora bent her Auburn-haired head to look at her watch.

"I make it twenty minutes."

A roar from the crowd drew them away from their banter, and Jun's eyes snapped up to take in the pitch.

"What happened?" she asked in General.

"A bloody foul, that's what! They went for the goal-scorer! Bloody cheating…"

He didn't have time to Finish, as Jun pressed to the front of the group. Tai was sitting on the field, blood pouring down his leg. She couldn't hear him from this distance, and she wasn't exactly an expert in lipreading, but even she could tell that Tai was using words that would turn the air around him a deep shade of black.

She sighed, and strode forward.

=============================================================

"SONOVABASTARDMUTHERFUGGER…"

In the searing pain from his leg, Tai had absolutely no idea what he was saying, but it was probably, in terms of cussing artistry, the equivalent of the Venus de Milo. Even Liam looked mildly shocked.

"Jesus Tai, calm down!" the big Irishman laughed.

"Oh, will someone please hut him up?" came and amused feminine voice.

Tai's head snapped up from the stud-wounds on his legs, to behold Jun Motomiya.

"Oh, Hey Jun."

He nodded at her, his voice momentarily calm, then resumed his litany.

"Mutherfugginsonovaprostidroidmaggotbreathingdonkey…"

She rolled her eyes, and looked over at Liam.

"Is there a medical bag anywhere around?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I'll get it."

The big man jogged off to the sidelines, whilst the referee berated the opposition player. (A/N: a referee? Making a correct decision? You can tell this is fiction, cant you?!?)

Jun gingerly examined the wound, her trained medic's eye noting that it was actually pretty deep. She gently felt around his leg, and felt a slight lump. She pressed it, as gently as was possible.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!"

The yell silenced everyone on the field. Jun looked up at him.

"Tai, I think your leg's broken."

"No shit! Any other stunning observations?"

"Only that if you don't shut up, I'll put you out of your misery!"

Liam arrived with the medical bag, and handed it to her.

"Oh, and how will you make me… UMPHHH!"

Whatever Tai was going to say was muffled by the sponge that Jun shoved into his mouth. 

"Well, that made you quieter. Bite down on it, cos this is gonna hurt."

She prepared one of the plastic splints from the med kit, and felt her way round to the lump again. She looked up at him.

"On three."

She braced herself.

"One… two…"

With a quick, decisive movement, she snapped the bone of Tai's leg back into place.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

she also ignored his muffled scream, as she fastened the splint into place, and pulled out her cell phone, dialling the emergency services. 

"Hello? Ambulance please."

Tai gripped her hand, hard. She flinched slightly, until she saw that he was concentrating hard, trying not to cry. She reached up with her free hand, and pulled the sponge from his mouth.

"Thanks for the help, you sadistic, pain inflicting bitch."

"You're very welcome, you dumb, machismo obsessed asshole."

He grinned at her.

"Why is it, that whenever I'm around you, I end up in a hospital?"

"Well, you wont have my company this time."

"Had your fill of the place for the time being? I understand."

She smiled again, and started to speak.

"Jun."

It was a voice she knew all too well, and even before she turned, she knew the sight that would greet her.

Max stood there, looking down over them. 

"We need to talk."

=============================================================

(A/N)

yay, football!

Some people might have noticed my sarcastic little authors note further up the page. The reason for this is that Coventry, the little sods, beat the team I support, Gillingham (THE MIGHTY GILLS!!!) 2-0 at the weekend. 

So to be quite frank, if any of my readers are Coventry supporters, I'm going to hunt you down, one by one, and kill you.

Bitter and obsessive? Me? NAH!!!

Also, anyone wondering about Jun's medical approach to Tai's injury, it amounts to this: I know Jack-shit about injury treatment. ^_^

-Ben Myatt.


	7. Trouble

Chapter 7:

Trouble. 

********

_And I never meant to cause you trouble,_

_And I never meant to do you wrong,_

_And oh, if I ever caused you trouble,_

_And oh no, I never meant to do you harm…_

_Coldplay – "Trouble."_

********

'What am I doing here?' thought Jun. 

'Why am I standing here, in the cold, with the boyfriend I'm no longer sure I want?'

She leant back against the wall, Max standing opposite her, beside his car.

"What do you want, Max?"

He looked at her.

"Like I said, I just want to talk."

"What do we have to talk about, any more?" 

He looked away. 

"I… I wanted to say I'm sorry, Jun. For everything."

"Max…"

"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you over the past year. I'm sorry for hurting you. And most of all, I'm sorry that I never treated you the way you deserved to be treated. Jun… I love…"

She felt anger flare inside her, bright and hard.

"Don't you dare, Max."

He gave her a startled look.

"What?"

"Don't you even THINK about telling me you love me!"

"But…"

"Max, for the past year my life has been a living hell! I've been going out to work, then coming straight back, under the threat of being either beaten up or locked out of my own home, the home that I bought, with money I scrimped and saved!!"

She saw him flinch, but she wasn't going to stop herself now, not that she was finally letting the feelings out.

"What do you want from me, Max? Forgiveness? Because, Christ you haven't done anything to earn it! Did you expect that I'd just welcome you back with open arms?"

She looked at his face, and saw that he was hurting. And part of her felt good about that. Part of her felt good that she was able to wound him emotionally, if not physically.

"I think that you're pathetic. What was it Max? Didn't you think that you were the man in the relationship? Did you want to wear the trousers all the time?"

And then that little voice kicked in. and she cursed it for that. She wanted to carry on hurting him, to hurt him as much as he had hurt her. But then she looked at his face, that handsome face she had once cared about so much, and felt a wave of pity wash over her. 

"Max… we cant be together. Not anymore."

His face snapped up to look at hers, and there was pleading in his eyes. 

"Jun… I can change! I can be… stronger!"

"Max, I never wanted you to be stronger. I just wanted you to be you. But you're not, not anymore. Maybe you never were."

"I was never enough for you, was that it?"

"You didn't have to be anything more than you already were!"

She was shouting again, all her emotions being unleashed after being pent up for so long. She pushed away from the wall. 

"Is that all you've got to say?" he asked.

"Yes, the only thing I have left is goodbye."

She started to walk away. 

"Jun."

She glanced over her shoulder at him.

"I didn't mean for ay of this to happen, you know. I never meant to hurt you."

"I know Max, I know. But we… we cant do this. Goodbye, Max." 

And she walked as fast as she could, not looking back once.

=============================================================

"So…"

"Yeah?"

"Can I smoke?"

"No."

"…Can I drink?"

"Nope."

"Drugs?"

"Not a chance in hell."

"Can I play the piano?"

"No you… huh?"

"Thought that one would throw ya."

Talla threw up her hands in frustration. 

"I give up! I cannot go on like this!"

She marched out of the room, and Tai sat in the Bed, smirking. Then he sighed. 

"I am so bored… I have got to get out of here."

"You're staying right where you are."

He looked up at the door.

"Oh, hey Kari." 

She glared at him.

"Don't you "Hey Kari" me, Tai Kamiya."

He held up his hands.

"Whoa! What have I done now?!?"

"You could at least have told me you quit your job! But no, you were being Mr Macho…"

"Erm… Kari?"

"What?" 

"Was it actually any of your business?"

She glared at him.

"Of course it is. I'm your sister, I have the right to be nosy about your life."

He sighed. 

"Whatever. Look, I've got to get out of here…"  
  


"Oh no you don't. I'm still mad at you."

"I just want some clothes…"

"Nope."

"Kari!"

"No, Tai. This place is best for you at the moment."

She looked at the backless hospital gown (when did a doctor need to get at your ass in a hurry!) and sniggered.

"…And I'd just LOVE to see you try and get anywhere in that thing."

"You know, Kari Kamiya, there are days when I could REALLY grow to hate you."

"You're welcome. Now shut up."

"Why?"

"Because if you put half the energy you put into talking into healing, you'd be out tomorrow."

He sighed, and lay back. a thought erupted across his mind.

"Hey, have you seen Jun?"

She shook her head.

"No. She went to talk to her ex after you got into the ambulance. Davis is worried about her.

"Hmmm."

"And so are you, it would appear."

"Huh?"

"You're worried about Jun?"

"Why would I be?"

"Because I know how you defended her, and how you feel responsible for her breaking up with her boyfriend."

Tai was silent. His face, however betrayed his thoughts.

"You think she'll forgive him?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping it's a case of once bitten twice shy. But I truly don't know, Kari."

"But you do feel responsible for her, don't you?"

"Yeah. I can't help it, because what happened, no matter what anyone else tells me, is my fault. Shit, I punched the guy out a coupla days ago. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about that. Did I do the right thing?"

"Does it matter to you that much?"

"Yes. And I don't know why."

"Uh…huh."

"What?"

"You like her."

"What… huh?"

He shrugged.

"Well… maybe a bit…"

=============================================================

Jun drove back to her house, and looked up at the empty windows. Max's car wasn't in the drive. She got out, and headed for the door, twisting the key in the lock. She stood inside, and stood in the hallway.

She felt cold. This house had been the site of so much pain for her. So much grief. And now she found that she had no desire to stay here. She headed upstairs, and took down two suitcases from the wardrobe. She carefully folded her clothes and belongings into the bags, and headed back out to the car.

=============================================================

Davis was sitting in front of the TV, when the doorbell rang. His mother started up, but he gestured at her to stay put.

"I'll get it. You carry on watching"

"Thanks, Davis."

He grinned at her, and headed down the narrow corridor to the apartment door. His mum called after him.

"If it's damned salesmen, use the shotgun on them."

He laughed, and opened the door. Turning to see who was there, he found himself staring into his sister's eyes. 

"Hi, Davis."

In the lounge, their mother twisted in her seat, then seeing who it was, got out of her chair and ran to the door. Davis's face showed a mixture of shock and curiosity.

"Jun? What are you doing here?"

"I… I thought maybe… I could come back here with you guys?"

her voice was filled with desolate hope, and Mrs Motomiya pushed past her son, and hugged her prodigal daughter.

"Oh Jun… sweetie…"

"I'm sorry, Mom. I never meant to cause you trouble…"

"You never did, Jun. You never did."

Davis grinned down at them. She looked at him.

"What are you smiling at?"

"I was just thinking that now might be the perfect time to slaughter that fatted calf…"

=============================================================

(A/N)

Aww, ain't that nice? Gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, don't it? Anyways. I have a internet access problem, the problem being that my folks got the bill a little while ago, and since our phone company screwed up, I'm on limited internet access for pretty much the next three months. *Sigh* this means that most chatting is almost completely out of the question. This is just in case people are wondering where the hell I've vanished to!

And If my good mate Bodrj ever gets round to reading this, I know I promised some big revelations about Max's personality in this chapter, but I realised I couldn't work it in this setting. So sod off. ^_^

Arigato to everyone who has reviewed, and to the 23 (count em!) people who've put me on their favourites list. Couldn't do it without ya.

Also, if anyone wants to know the details of my DREARY LIFE, you can now check out my online diary at

http://www.ujournal.org/users/moose_of_doom

see what it's like to be a technician for these guys:

http://www.freewebs.com/tribalism

-Ben.


	8. Driftwood

Chapter 8: 

Driftwood

********

_Business deal is open,_

_Nothing is set in stone,_

_Rivers turn to oceans,_

_Oceans tide you home._

_Driftwood - Travis._

********

Jun woke early the next morning, just before five, and stared at the bedside clock. It was an unfamiliar display. At the wrong angle too. She glanced around from her pillow, and felt a momentary surge of panic at the fact that she didn't recognise the room. Then she remembered, and smiled. 

She was home, and it had taken her so long to get here, to realise that here was somewhere she could be safe. She knew that, in these four walls, she had everything she loved. 

And then came the moment of self-doubt. What if she had done the wrong thing by coming back here? She had had independence at least in her own house – had she given all that up by coming crawling back here? Had all she had accomplished been to show her mother and brother that she couldn't stand on her own two feet?

Then she remembered the leaflet. The one doctor Krayle had given her. She leant out of bed, and scrabbled in her back for the crumpled piece of paper. Unfolding it, she looked at the words on the sheet. The class wasn't due to start till tomorrow – but she had to apply for a place over the phone, and set up an interview with the course director. She glanced at the list of qualifications. Biology, maths, chemistry… she had the required grades, but would she be able to make it in?

She resolved to try, and turned over. After a few minutes, she went back to sleep. 

=============================================================

"Jun, honey? You awake?"

She came back drowsily, and looked up at her mother.

"Huh? Whussuh?"

"Take the pillow out of your mouth and try again." 

Jun sheepishly removed the pillow she had been chewing on in her sleep, and repeated herself.

"What's up, mom?" 

"I was wondering if you wanted some breakfast? Because you'd better hurry – I'm sure you remember Davis's eating habits."

"Hey! I resent that!" her brother shouted from the living room.

Jun and Mrs Motomiya looked at each other, and smiled.

"How DOES he do that?"

Jun grinned.

"I'll be out in a minute mom. Just lemme get dressed, okay?"

"Okay honey." 

She walked out, and Jun dug in her bag for her clothes. Five minutes later, she was sitting at the table, tucking into her breakfast. Mrs Motomiya fussed over her the whole time.

"You look like you haven't eaten properly in ages."

"I haven't, really. I've had a lot on my mind."

"Too much to eat? You used to have the same appetites as Davis!"

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!"

"I'm sorry, Davis, you've mistaken me for someone who cares."

Davis glared at his mother, then put on a look of superior disdain.

"I could come up with a witty and cutting response, but I'll settle for 'Sod off, and I hope you choke on that bacon.'"

He grinned. 

"Anyways, I've got classes. I'll see ya'll later."

He got up, and headed out of the door, grabbing his jacket as he went. Mrs Motomiya sat down next to her daughter.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Well… there's this course that the doctor on the casualty ward at the hospital put me onto. I've gotta phone up and organise it though." 

"Well, better hurry up and do it then. I'm not gonna be this nice to you forever."

Jun grinned at her.

"Thanks mom. I owe you big."

"I'm just happy to have you back. Don't get used to it, I'm sure it wont last. When you're done, can you head down the store for me?"

"Sure."

=============================================================

Tai picked up his crutch, and swung into the kitchen in his house. Cody was sitting at the table, reading a report.

"Hey. How's the leg?"

"Getting better. I feel a bit stronger today. Probably take the cast off soon."

"Tai, it's been two days since you broke it. Don't get premature."

"Cody, there's this little thing called sarcasm – what do you know of it?"

"Only that it's the lowest form of wit, so it fits your personality."

"Ouch. That hurt. Where's the coffee?"

Cody glanced over the cupboards.

"Aw, hell. I forgot to buy any. I'll go down the store…"

"No you don't, you've got work. I'll go down."

The younger man glanced up at him, and noted the look on his face. He shrugged.

"Okay, whatever. You want a full list of what we vitally need?"

"Depends. Is beer on the list?"

"Tai, beer isn't Vital."

"Only in your world."

Cody raised his eyes.

"Now I know why Agumon spends so much time in the digi-world."

=============================================================

"Coffee, Columbian Coffee, Indian Coffee, Mexican Coffee…"

Tai looked along the row of coffee jars, trying to decide which to get.

"Jeez, how much caffeine can you fit on one shelf? This cannot be good for anyone."

He grabbed a jar of coffee, and headed for the Alcohol section. He cast a critical eye over the arranged beers on the shelves. 

"Now, this is what I'M talking about…"

"Yes, however, to yourself is never a good sign, Tai."

He spun suddenly, coming face to face with Jun. 

"Erm… yeah… I was just…"

"Talking to yourself over which poisons you'll insert into your liver?"

"Sounds good to me. How you doing, Jun?"

she shrugged. 

"I'm… surviving. How's your leg."

"Better for you not having touched it over the past few days." He grinned. "I still haven't forgiven you for that."

"I'm SO disappointed."

His grin got wider, and she returned it. For some reason, she felt comfortable in his presence, like a boat that has found a patch of clear skies. 

"So, what are you doing here, Jun?"

"Shopping for my mom. I'm at home again now."

"I like that. It shows character." 

She glared at him. 

"You're lucky you're an invalid, otherwise I'd hurt you."

"Jeez, don't let that stop you…" he muttered under his breath. "So, what are you doing now?"

"Well, I've got a couple of hours to kill until I go for my interview."

"A new job?"

"An academic course. Doctoring."

"…'kay. In that case, Ms Motomiya, would you care to join me for a cup of…"

he reached into his shopping basket, and picked up the coffee jar, reading from its label.

"'prime Columbian coffee beans, hand-picked for their flavour and aroma.'"

"So, that would be coffee?" 

"…Yes. Yes it would."

"Okay. Why not?"

=============================================================

(A/N)

Not the most filling of chapters, I know, but hey, I wrote a chapter of each of my fics this week. Gimme a break, cos I'm still on restricted internet access thanks to my Oh-so-nice parents.


	9. In my Place

Chapter 9: 

In my place.

********

_In my place, in my place,_

_Were lines that I couldn't trace,_

_I was lost, oh yeah._

_I was lost, I was lost,_

_Crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed,_

_But I wait, oh yeah._

_In my place – Coldplay._

_********_

Tai unceremoniously kicked open the door, his hands being full with his crutch and shopping bag.

"Cody? You home?" 

He glanced back at Jun.

"C'mon in. don't worry, the creature under the sink doesn't bite unless provoked."

"Thanks, Tai, that's an immensely comforting thought."

Satisfied that Cody wasn't home, Tai booted open the kitchen door, and dumped his bag on the counter, pulling the coffee packet from inside. 

"Do you take milk and sugar?"

"Yes, please."

"Because I don't have either of those…"

Tai shrugged apologetically, and banged his head a couple of times against the cupboard door.

"Sorry. It's a guy mentality."

She laughed, and sat down at the table, looking around at the sparse fittings. It seemed so… bare.

Tai caught her gaze, and shrugged again, grinning as he spoke.

"I haven't gotten round to finishing the place up yet. I used to be busy on the police work." 

"That would be a slight problem now, wouldn't it."

"Thankyou for pointing that out, Jun, I really needed that boost to my flagging ego."

He poured the brewed coffee into two cups, and passed one over to her. She took a sip. Tai followed suit. Then he looked up at her.

"Premium Columbian coffee my ass. This tastes like regular coffee."

"Tai, any intelligent person knows it's not the taste, it's the caffeine that makes the difference."

He laughed, and took another sip. He kicked back his chair, leaning it against the counter, and propped his bad leg on the table.

"You know, that's a very dangerous thing to do."

"What can I say? I live on the edge."

"Where's Agumon, Tai?"

Tai grimaced momentarily. Then he answered.

"Agumon likes his space. He spends a lot of his time in the Digi-world nowadays. I miss him a bit, if that's what you're wondering, but he's always back here when it's time to be fed. He likes to patrol, you see? We both have cop-mentality."

"Yup, you're both natural gavvers."

He shot her a puzzled look, his eyebrow raised in a curious expression.  
  


"What?"

Jun blushed slightly.

"It's what Liam told me some British people call cops. Gavvers."

"O…kay."

"Oh, don't give me that look, Tai Kamiya."

"Look? What look? I wasn't givin' no looks."

She glared at him.

"You know, I spoke to Talla yesterday. She said that you drove the whole nursing staff crazy whilst you were in the hospital."

"Well, I had to do something to alleviate the boredom."

"If I'd been there and you'd tried that, you'd have been bruised for weeks."

He sighed sadly.

"Ah, Jun, you always promise, yet you never deliver."

She glared at him.

"Why did you invite me here, Tai?"

"What, I cant ask a friend over for a brew?"

"Don't bullshit me, Tai. I've known you too long."

"Ya coulda fooled me. I hadn't seen you for a year until that day in the hospital."

"Get over it. That's in the past. Now gimme a goddamn explanation."

Tai sighed again.

"In truth? I invited you over because I was feeling guilty. I felt responsible for what happened between you and your boyfriend… hell, everything HAS moved fast since I saw you in the hospital. I mean, things really came to a head when I slugged the guy out, for chrissakes!"

She gave him a look. he suddenly experienced what it was like to be a rabbit caught in the headlights of a truck.

"Is that what you thing? Jeez, you really do have a high opinion of yourself, don't you Tai Kamiya? Things between Max and me were coming apart anyway! You might have speeded up the process, but nothing more!"

He spoke quietly.

"You don't have to shout, Jun."

She realised that her voice had been raised, and sat back on her chair.

"Were there any other reasons, Tai?"

"You still want the truth?"

"The whole, and nothing but the."

"I… kinda like you."

She froze. Tai knew immediately that he had said the wrong thing. She stood.

"I have to go. I've got to get ready for my interview."

Without stopping, she turned and left the room. Tai paused for a moment.

"Ah, shit!"

He grabbed his crutch, and levered himself up onto his feet, as he heard the front door opening.

"Jun!"

He moved as fast as he could, and jammed his good foot in the door just before it closed, levering it back open. She was already heading down the short garden path.

"Jun! Wait up!"

He swung after her, and put his good hand on her shoulder. She turned slowly.

"Tai, I can't do this, not know. Why'd you have to tell me that, huh?"

"Excuse me? As I remember it, you were the one who asked me for the truth! Would you rather I'd lied?"

She kept his gaze for a moment, and then dropped her eyes.

"Of course I don't. But I can't think about things like that. Not yet. I need to get my feelings straight. But I want you to tell me something. Did you help me because you liked me?"

He shook his head.

"Jun, I only realised that I felt that way when I was lying in the hospital bed a couple of days ago. Until then, I was just doing what I thought was the right thing to do. Was I wrong?"

Surprisingly, Jun smiled gently.

"No. You weren't wrong. But like I said, I have to get my own emotions straightened out first, okay?"

She leant forward, and kissed him gently on the cheek, then without pausing, she turned and walked away, leaving him standing there.

=============================================================

As she walked away, Tai's gaze followed her down the street. Then, with his good leg, he savagely kicked the trashcan on his lawn up to his house, grimacing in pain from his other leg.

"Shit!"

As much as he could with his leg in a plaster cast, he stalked back into the house. He sat back at the kitchen table.

"Goddammit, you Asshole. Why'd you have to say that? You could have lied, for gods sake!"

He sighed, and lifted his coffee cup to his lips. The warm liquid spilled down his throat, warming his stomach. He shook his head.

"Well done, Tai. You handled that really well."

"Are you still talking to yourself?"

He glanced at the door; As Agumon stuck his head round.

"Oh, its you."

"What's wrong?" 

"Oh nothing. I've just screwed up."

"Again? You've got a nasty habit there."

"Oh, shut up."

He got back, and headed through to the lounge, where he slouched in front of the TV. Absentmindedly, he picked up the sketchpad that lay on the floor, and started idly doodling a few images from his mind of the woman who had sat across the table from him less than half an hour earlier.

=============================================================

Jun felt like she was going to pass out. Her body felt like it was just a mass of nerve endings, with no coherent purpose to them. She was sitting outside the course directors office, waiting for her interview for the doctors course in the college.

"Jun Motomiya?"

She looked up at the sound of her own name, and nodded. A friendly face was peering round the office door at her.

"Jane Maxwell. If you'll follow me, please?"

She stood, and followed the person to a desk at the back of the office. The woman gestured for her to sit, and sank into her own comfortable chair on the other side. She grinned at Jun.

"Well, Miss Motomiya, you've caused us some fairly large problems."

Jun flinched inwardly, but said nothing. The course director continued.

"You've come to this sign-up extremely late. Normally we'd be forced to turn you away."

She felt her hopes start to plummet out of the bottom of her jeans and onto the floor.

"However, you're a very special case. I had a little chat with doctor Krayle earlier, since you put him down as your reference. I understand that you were a nurse on the casualty ward?"

Jun nodded, and spoke her reply softly enough so that only the two of them could hear it.

"If you know that, then you know why I'm no longer employed as a nurse."

The course director nodded.

"Yes. You were sacked because of your timekeeping. However, I'm told that there were… circumstances."

"Miss Maxwell, there are always 'circumstances'. I offer no excuses for why what happened did happen."

Miss Maxwell contemplated her for a couple of seconds, leaning back slightly in her leather chair. Jun returned the gaze steadily. Finally, the course director smiled again.

"Well, now we know where we stand, I'm please to tell you that you have a place on the course. As I said, normally we'd be forced to turn you away, but having a fully qualified nurse is always helpful."

She held out her hand, and Jun, smiling, accepted the handshake.

"That'll be all, Miss Motomiya. I'll see you Monday."

"Thankyou, Miss Maxwell."

Jun stood, and headed for the door.

"Miss Motomiya?"

she stopped, and glanced over her shoulder at the course director.

"I trust that the 'circumstances' have been sorted out?"

"As far as they can be, Miss Maxwell, As far as they can be."

And Jun opened the door, and walked down the hall. When she got outside, she reached into her bag, and pulled out her cell phone. She pulled a card from her pocket. It was the small card Tai had given her when he had come to collect her statement. She punched in the first few numbers… then stopped. 

No. She couldn't do that. Not yet. She wasn't ready.

She turned the phone off, put it back in her bag, and headed for her car. But not before she slipped the card into her pocket.

=============================================================

(A/N)

Ho hum. That was better than the last chapter, at least! I really didn't like the last one, except in terms of comedy. This one I liked. It was definitely enjoyable to write, ^_^

Anyways, as I said on "The Shadow War," I'm after fanart for my website. However, before I go any further down those lines, I really should announce that my website address has changed! It is now, through the wonders of a certain country giving away it's domain names for free, an official site!

The new address is:

http://www.digifictiondomain.tk

(Yes, I haven't failed to notice the irony of a Daikari-orientated site having the code 'tk' thankyou very much.)

But I digress:

Fanart! As an extra incentive to try and get you nice people to do me some fanart (Submissions to moose_of_doom@hotmail.com !) I'm introducing a little members-area on my site. It's basically going to be a Yahoo group where people who have donated to my site can chat specifically to me, get sneak peeks of new chapters before anyone else, read exclusive fics specially written for the members area (not just Digimon, but also Gundam Wings, and maybe a Blue Gender one as well!), and get some free gifts and goodies that I'll make especially for the donators. The first one of these I've got planned is a set of desktop icons based on my little 8-bit theatre style sprite designs of the Digimon characters, but wallpapers and other stuff may follow!

Your opinions on this little venture are much appreciated. Send them to my week time email address (still banned from net at home! Cant access hotmail!):

myatb001@medway.org.uk 

If you want some more guidelines,  as I mentioned on my notes for "The shadow war" and my online journal (link on the main page of my site, folks!) I'd especially like pictures of Liam Dillon, just to see what people think up, but a couple of pictures of TSW's Shadowmon wouldn't go amiss either!

And thus ends possibly the longest authors note I will EVER write.

Ja Ne. 

-Ben.


	10. Little by Little

Chapter 10:

Little By Little.

********

_And it just don't matter now,_

_Cos little by little,_

_I gave you everything you ever dreamed of._

_Oasis – Little by Little._

********

Jun rested the notepad on her knees and took the opportunity before the class started to sneak a look at her fellow students. She was dismayed to see that most of them were a good two years younger than she was, at least. She groaned inwardly, and returned to her pad.

Why was she here? Did she even want to become a doctor? 

Whilst she was at it, what was the meaning of life, and the path to world peace?

She smiled slightly at her own inner cynicism, and watched as the lecturer came into the room. He was carrying a slide projector, and looked so serious that his features might have been chiselled out of granite.

He planted the projector unceremoniously on the desk, and turned to look at them. 

"I'm doctor Richard Dawson. I'm supposed to teach you using slides and paper how to be doctors..."

Suddenly, three people bearing a stretcher burst into the room. A fourth man lay on the stretcher, the right side of his face a mask of blood. Dawson moved fast, as they lay the stretcher down on the floor.

"What's going on?

"He fell into a window! I think there's glass in his head, doctor!"

Jun was on her feet and moving before she even knew it, dashing down the stairs, whilst the rest of the class froze in abject horror at the spectacle before him. She dropped on the opposite side of the stretcher to Dawson.

"How long ago was he hurt?" she asked the man who had brought the stretcher in.

"I don't know…"

"Please, sir, it could be vital."

"Erm… ten minutes, maybe?"

Dawson fixed her with a quizzical look.

"Name?"

"Jun Motomiya."

"Well, congratulations, Ms Motomiya."

"Sir?"

"You've just passed my first test."

The man on the stretcher suddenly sat up, and wiped ineffectually at the blood on his face. Dawson grinned at him.

"Go clean yourself up, Mac." 

The doctor fixed her with another look. Then he stood, and turned to the rest of the class.

"May I ask why no one else made any attempt to help?"

The class's sheepish look said it all. Dawson held out a hand, and helped Jun to her feet.

"Ms Motomiya here is the only one whom I would consider teaching at the moment. A doctor, especially a casualty doctor, should expect at all times to be ready for action. In this game, you work to the job, not the clock, and the job never stops. I suggest that for the moment you all go away, and think about why you chose this course. If it's an easy ride you wanted, Geology 101 is down the hall. That's where all the American-football players hang out. Class dismissed, but I want to see you all back here in fifteen minutes."

Stunned, the class stood, and slowly moved out of the rear doors. Jun started to head back up to her seat.

"Ms Motomiya."

She turned to look at Dawson.

"Sir?"

"May I ask how you knew the correct procedure, and why you reacted so quickly?"

"The same reason you do sir – years spent on a casualty ward."

He laughed.

"Somehow, I knew you'd say that. You would be a trained nurse, then?"

"Yes, sir."

"That's a useful thing to know. Good work, Ms Motomiya. You may leave."

"Thankyou, sir."

She turned and walked for the doors.

=============================================================

Tai's pencil moved across the page in practiced strokes, delicately tracing the lines of hair, eyes, and mouth. 

It was a long time since he'd sketched properly, and he hated doing it from memory, but this time, the memory was so fresh in his mind that could still see her in front of him. He had started working on the picture yesterday, after Jun had left. His eyes were ahead of him, unseeing. And yet his pencil still moved across the page, sketching the face of a young woman.

=============================================================

The class went back to their seats in the auditorium, and Dawson grinned up at them. 

"I found out an interesting fact about Ms Motomiya after you left. She's a qualified nurse. That, however, does not excuse the rest of you. At the very least, you should have made some attempt to help. Always be ready for a shock."

Jun felt their eyes on her, and turned round, fixing her classmates with a stare. They grinned at her, and one or two of them had frank admiration in their eyes. She felt her face warm as she started to blush. Dawson coughed.

"If I may wrestle your attention away from our little heroine, I have some video footage that I'd like to show you. You might want to settle back, as you may find this disturbing."

Jun leaned back in her seat, and tapped her pen lightly against her teeth – a bad habit from her nursing days – and watched as the footage started to roll on the screen, hearing the gasps of horror from people around her at the carnage caused by a car crash. She shook her head slightly. Maybe she had become de-sensitised to it all, but she found herself feeling very detached from the footage. She felt very alone indeed.

Then it hit her. The footage of a small boy, no older than ten, lying in the back of a car. She heard one of the students behind her retch, and she closed her eyes. And still she saw the small face, imprinted on the inside of her eyelids.

=============================================================

The eyes now. Now matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to get them right. He closed his eyes, summoning up before him the image of Jun, her hair tossed casually back across her shoulder, the way she bit her lip when she was thinking. 

There it was. The small thing he had missed. The way that when she smiled, the smile spread to her eyes, lighting up her pupils with that little inner sparkle.

The pencil went to the paper again, and started to move. Tai looked down at his work. 

Yes, this time it was right.

=============================================================

Jun left the class, feeling numb. As much as she tried, she couldn't shake the image of that little boy from her mind. 

"How could you do it?"

She turned. The words might have meant she was doing something wrong, but there was something about their intonation that made her think otherwise.

"Do what?"

The girl had light brown hair, in bangles around her neck. Jun recognised her vaguely as having been in the row in front of her in the auditorium.

"How could you cope with that, day in and day out? Seeing people in that state?"

Jun stopped, and gently bit her lip.

"I don't know. I suppose that… no, I didn't get used to it. After a while, something clicks. You realise that you can't work miracles, but you have to do what you can. You do the best you can, until you can't do any more… do you know what I mean?"

The girl nodded.

"I think so… you needed to feel that you were doing the right thing?"

"Yeah…"

She recalled her conversation of two days previous with Taichi Kamiya. 

'…_I was just doing what I thought was the right thing to do. Was I wrong?_'

her attention shifted back to the girl. She grinned, self-conciously.

"I'm Becca."

"Jun…"

"yeah, Doctor Dawson kind of told us that."

Jun laughed. The redhead grinned along with her.

"Erm… I was gonna go get some coffee. Do you want to join me?"

"Why not. it's not as if I've got anything better to do."

=============================================================

Tai set down his pencil, and held the sketchpad up to the light. Jun Motomiya stared back at him, grey in the stencilled colours. He grinned, as Agumon leapt up onto the chair arm.

"Wow. Not bad, for someone who claims he cant draw."

"I never claimed I couldn't draw."

"Actually, I formed my own opinion on the subject."

Tai glared at his Digimon partner.

"I could really grow to hate you, you know that?"

"Grow too? I obviously haven't been trying hard enough."

The Dinosaur-Digimon's expression turned serious.

"What are you gonna do with the drawing."

"Well… I was thinking I might give it to Jun… but I'm not so sure. Like she said, she needs her space at the moment."

=============================================================

Jun gently sipped her coffee. She almost choked.

"Jeez, what the hell did you order me, Becca?"

Her new friend grinned.

"It's what's known as a zombie special. Nothing illegal, but plenty of coffee, extra caffeine, Sugar and ginseng. I would advise drinking more than one a day."

"If you drank more than one a day, you'd end up in a coma!"

"Precisely."

Jun smiled. After Becca's initial nervousness outside the classroom, her personality had steadily improved as the got further away. She wasn't the timid field mouse she had appeared to be, and in her eyes there was a strength that you wouldn't see just by looking at her petite form.

"So, why do you want to be a doctor?" Jun asked.

"I want to help people. It was either this or be a teacher, and quite frankly I don't have the personality to be a teacher. You?"

"I got sacked, and my ex-boss recommended taking the course."

"You got sacked? Why?"

"It's a long story."

Despite her seemingly cheerleader-ish personality, Becca had the ability to recognise a hint when it was dropped on her head from a great height.

"So… you got a boyfriend?"

"Not at the moment." 

Jun's voice held the same tone it had when she answered the previous question, and a small wry smile crept across Becca's face.

"Well, after seeing that video, I think life is for the taking. So I'm going to go home, and watch "Lord of the rings" to cheer myself up."

"How does that work?" Jun asked curiously.

"Two words, my friend – Orlando Bloom."

Jun nodded, and grinned.

"What about you? You wanna come?" Becca asked.

The brown-headed girl remembered the phone card nestling in her purse. She thought for a couple of seconds, and then smiled. 

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"What could possibly make you turn down Orlando-kun?"

"Life. I'm gonna take life."

=============================================================

The doorbell rang, and Tai hastily grabbed for his crutch. He levered himself upright, and headed for the door. 

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming!"

muttering a few extremely foul curses under his breath, the Digidestined moved over to the door. He turned the handle, and pulled it open.

"Hi, Tai." 

His face registered mild surprise.

"Erm… hey, Jun."

"I was just wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"Would you have dinner with me this evening?"

Tai grinned.

"I'd be delighted."

=============================================================

(A/N) 

Aren't I a BITCH for cliff-hangers?

Heheh. Yup this is where the angst begins to stop, and the mush begins to start. It's almost a year since I wrote pure romance fic. It was called "as long as she's happy." Remember that piece of rubbish? ^_^

There was a little comment on my reviews, saying that someone didn't really like the amount of swearing I put in my fics, but if that's the way I write, it's okay.

Write?

That's the way I TALK!

But thanks for the sentiment! I made a special effort this week to have absolutely NO SWEARING in this chapter. God-mother-fugging-damnit, didn't I do well?

The members area currently has… 1 member. So in view of this, I'm making it open to the general public. It's easier than managing my Ezboard forum – which no-one bloody uses anyways. It also gives me somewhere to manage my downloads from, and where (god help us) you can chat to me!

The addy is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digifictiondomain

Come and join! I'll play nice!

-Ben.


	11. The water is wide

Chapter 11:

The Water is Wide.

**********

_the water is wide, I cannot swim o'er._

_And neither have I wings to fly._

_Give me a boat that can carry two._

_Two places for my love and I._

_The Water is Wide – Steeleye Span._

**********

Tai pulled on his best trousers, easing them gently over the cast that still encased his right leg. He looked at himself in the mirror, and grinned.

Who've thought that him, Tai Kamiya, would be going out on a date with Jun Motomiya, a girl whom at one point he had thought to be possibly one of the most irritating women on the face of the planet. He shrugged, and headed downstairs. Cody was seated at the kitchen table, reading the paper.

"Well, look whose getting all dressed up."

"Screw you, I've got a date tonight."

"Anyone I know?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Hmm… Jun Motomiya."

Tai fixed him with a look.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I've seen that sketch you did of her in the lounge. You haven't sketched someone that well since… ever."

"It's nice to know everyone around here appreciates my artistic abilities."

"Tai, the day you have artistic ability is the day I repeatedly shoot myself with a high-calibre weapon. It's a pretty good sketch though."

"…Remind me again, Cody, when did you become such an asshole?"

"Since he started living with you." Whispered Armadillomon from underneath the table. Tai grinned at the small Digimon.

"So, I'm a corrupting influence, am I?"

"Always have been, always will be." Said Cody, his attention still on the paper.

"Well, that's nice to know."

A car horn tooted outside.

"That would be for me." Tai smirked.

"Hey, has it occurred to you that I might have a date too?" Cody asked indignantly.

"It occurred, but then I realised that no human woman could put up with you."

He dodged the hastily thrown paper as best he could, and headed for the door. Moving out to the car on his crutches, he looked in at Jun.

"Hey."

She smiled back at him, almost shyly.

"Hi. You gonna get in, or are you gonna stand there all night?"

Tai smiled, and opened the car door, settling himself in on his broken leg. He winced slightly, and then grinned.

"It still causing you pain?" she asked.

"I don't take the drugs."

"Why not?"

"With the exception of Alcohol, I don't like to put foreign substances in my body. Comes from working as a drugs cop."

He shrugged.

"So, where are we going? I'm paying."

She glanced at him as she pulled the car out onto the road.

"You are? Why?"

"To preserve what remains of my fragile male dignity." He caught her glare. "Because I want to, okay?"

"Do you always get what you want?"

"…Most of the time, yes."

She laughed.

"Alright, I'll let you pay for the meal. But that means you pick the destination."

"Nuh-uh. First date rules – the person who asked out the other gets to pick the location."

"You made that up."

"Of course. I mainly go out with the intention of getting wasted. You wouldn't want to visit those places, would you?"

She shuddered.

"Remind me why were doing this?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know. You tell me."

For a while she was silent. When she spoke again, it was with quiet confidence, tainted only by the underlying hint of regret.

"Because I've finally decided to give life a try, Tai."

"It's a good philosophy. You should stick to that idea."

"I know. That's why I pre-booked seats at a restaurant."

He grinned, and settled back against the seat slightly.

"You see? I knew it would be okay."

=============================================================

They arrived at the restaurant with a few minutes to spare before their table became available. The restaurant was located in a hotel, and with nothing better to do, the pair headed for the bar. Jun turned to Tai.

"What do you want?"

"Just a coke." He smiled. "I'm on good behaviour."

"Tai, you can have one."

"Not on an empty stomach."

She gave him an appraising look, then ordered the drinks, a tall class of coke, and a glass of white wine for herself. She felt mildly guilty about drinking when he wasn't. He smiled at her nervousness.

"You look lovely, Jun."

"You too, Tai… I mean…"

Damn! She was tripping over her own tongue like a schoolgirl at a prom! Pull yourself together, girl!

He laughed, quickly dispelling the feeling of nervousness. 

"Jun…"

She waited for him to finish, but the _Maitre'd_ came over, and informed them that their table was ready. Tai shook his head.

"C'mon. Lets go."

The _Maitre'd_ escorted them through to the main restaurant area, and seated them at their table. He turned and waved one of the waiters over.

"This is Adam. He'll be your waiter for this evening, sir and madam."

Tai nodded his thanks, and smiles. The _Maitre'd_ headed off to another part of the restaurant. The waiter smiled at them.

"I see you already have drinks, sir. Would you care to order a starter?"

Tai nodded, and looked over at Jun.

"What would you like?" he asked.

She shrugged nervously.

"I think I'll have the chicken."

Tai grinned, and ordered. The waiter moved off to the kitchens, leaving the two of them alone.

"So, what ARE we doing here?" Tai asked.

Jun smiled at him.

"Like I told you, I got tired of waiting for life to come to me, so I decided to make the first move."

"And that first move is me?"

"Well, why else would I come out with you?" she asked.

He laughed, and she smiled at him. His gentle eyes came down to settle on her. The kindness contained within them seemed to be focussed on her for that briefest of moments. 

"Tai… I…"

"Erm…" The waiter. Damn. "Your starters are ready…?"

Tai smiled at him. The guy looked momentarily insecure, as if knowing he had intruded on something. In the same way as it had with Jun, Tai's smile calmed the man. The waiter laid their plates on the table, and moved away. Tai reached for his cutlery. 

"You know, I realise why I've never been to this place before." He said.

"Hmm? Oh, me neither. It's not my type of place." 

He grinned again.

"Then why are we here?"

"I wanted a first date to be… special."

"Jun… it doesn't have to be someplace like this."

She looked momentarily crestfallen.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, that was me, that didn't sound right. What I mean was that anyplace is special, so long as it's around you. It doesn't have to be somewhere expensive or grand, just near you."

He reached across the table, and laid his hand on top of hers. She looked up into his eyes, and gently moved his hand away. He moved back.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to presume."

"No, Tai, it's okay. Just… not yet, alright?" she glanced around at the assorted social paragons around them, and then grinned at him slyly. "And not here."

He smiled, and stood. He put some money on the table, combining the price of their starter with a tip for the waiter. The man passed, smiled at them, and nodded his understanding. Tai glanced at her as he lifted his crutch.

"Shall we go find a real party?"

=============================================================

The violin players fingers danced along the neck of his instrument as the deep bass line thumped in the background, it's almost subconscious sound an undercurrent to the fiddles melodic tune as the bow moved across the strings.

Jun grinned at Tai.

"You knew this was going on, didn't you?" she asked.

He gave her his standard rakish smile.

"Of course I did! You think you're the only one who's organised?"

Applause broke out as the fiddle player suddenly stopped, his sandy hair catching in front of his eyes. He turned to the lead guitarist, and obviously shared a quick joke as the two laughed.

"Fancy seeing you two here!" came a voice from behind them.

Tai twisted in his seat, and looked straight up into the face of Yamato Ishida. The blonde man had his arm wrapped around the waist of an auburn-haired beauty by the name of Sora Takenouchi, and was grinning down at them. Jun stood.

"Hi Matt! What are you doing here?" she asked.

Matt nodded towards the stage.

"Checking out the alternative music scene. I don't play much of it, but it has a good beat. Mind if we join you? They take a break around this time."

Jun indicated the spare seats, and their friends slid into them, drinks in hand. Jun indicated the band, drinking at the bar.

"Who are they?"

"They're called Trader. They're an alternative band from England. Drummers called Dan, the Bass players Nick, the lead guitar is Tom, and the Fiddle player is called Ben." Tai answered.

Jun cast him an amused glance.

"You've been here before."

"Yup. I like this band."

He stood. 

"Where are you going?" asked Matt.

"Where do you think?" came the cynical reply, and then Tai had moved off into the crowd.

"So, Jun, what are you doing here with Tai?"

Jun blushed.

"Erm…"

"Oh. 'Erm.'"

They laughed. Matt glanced in the direction Tai had gone, and saw that he was standing next to the band's violinist, and talking to him quietly. Matt saw the guy nod, and Tai headed back towards them as the band went back on stage, picking up their instruments and readying themselves. The fiddle player stepped up to the mike.

"I just got a song request from a mate of mine who's here tonight with a date. This is 'The water is wide, by Steeleye Span.'"

He touched the bow too his strings, as Tai reached their table, and a simple yet delightfully slow melody sand through the main part of Liam's pub. Tai reached out his hand to Jun.

"May I have this dance?"

She smiled, and placed her hand in his. Together with a few other couples, they made their way to the dance floor, and started slowly moving to the music. Tai kept his weight on his good leg, as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Thankyou, Tai."

"For what?"

"For the lovely evening. I've had a great time."

"Glad we ditched the fancy restaurant then?" 

"Very glad. This is even more special."

He smiled, and leaned the side of his head against hers. He felt something damp on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

She shook her head, and cuffed at her eyes. The fiddle music moved onwards, gentle, soothing. She looked up into his eyes.

"Like I said, Tai. Thankyou."

"Nothing else?"

"Nothing that I want to say, I'm free enough to give. Not yet."

"I understand."

"I know."

They danced, as the violins notes moved steadily onwards.

=============================================================

(a/n)

Yes, I know it's a crappy self-insert, but the Violin player is me, and yes I DO actually play the folk violin. "The water is wide" is the only pure folk song I can play at the moment that had the right atmosphere for this chapter. If you've heard it, you'll understand.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE can people join my Yahoo group! It's open to everyone now, and for my reasons, it's the best way I have of staying in contact with people who want to ask me questions! There's some downloads up there too, so PLEASE join! I want to talk to people!

It's at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digifictiondomain.

All you need to do is copy that bit of text, for smegs sake! 

Until next time, 

Ja ne!

-Ben.


	12. Better Man

Chapter 12: Better man.

**********

_As my soul heals the shame_

_I will grow through this pain._

_Lord I'm doing all I can,_

_To be a better man._

_Robbie Williams – Better man._

**********

_Three weeks later:_

Jun put her drink down on the table, and picked up her notepad. She hated sorting through her notes after lessons, being one of those people who prefers to absorb all the information as it's heard. But she had to do this before Tai came round. She sighed again, and glanced down the page at the figures and words blazing up at her. She remembered the damn lesson, but unless she got this stuff sorted, it'd just pile up and it's never gets done.

"Jun?"

"Yeah, Veemon?"

"What're you doing?"

"Trying to sort out these notes."

The little blue Digimon fixed her with a quizzical glance. Davis was out at practice, and her mom was still at work, so Jun and Veemon were the only ones in the apartment. 

"So, how's Tai?" Veemon said slyly.

Jun fixed him with a baleful expression.

"What makes you think I'd know?"

"Jun, gimme some credit. I may be small, but I ain't dumb. You two are crazy about each other."

"Is it any of your business, you nosy little git?"

"Davis is too polite to do his own snooping. I took it upon myself to fulfil his duties. So, how is he?"

Jun glared at him with undisguised malevolence, then smiled.

"He's getting better. His casts coming off today, but he's gotta keep weight off of that leg."

"Oh. Cool. So… you kissed yet?"

Jun aimed a kick at him, which he neatly dodged.

"You're not exactly the most subtle individual in the world are you Veemon?"

=============================================================

Tai watched with relish as the doctor put the surgical scissors to the side of the cast, and started to cut down the length of his leg. After almost six weeks inside the plaster, his leg had set, and he was glad of it. He had to still take it easy, but at least he wouldn't feel like he was dragging a ten-pound weight around any more. He flexed his shoulders impatiently.

"IS there any way this could be quicker, doctor?"

"Any particular reason?"

"I've got a date."

"Ah, no wonder you're in a hurry. The young always are…"

Tai groaned inwardly. He prayed that they guy wouldn't give him a lecture on how impetuous the young were these days, and settled back. The last few inches of plaster severed under the scissors pressure, and the cast split neatly down the centre.

=============================================================

"Mom?" Jun asked.

"If you want money, forget it." Came the cheery response.

Jun laughed, pleased with the fact that the easygoing relationship between them hadn't faded in the year she had been away, but had instead deepened to the point where they hardly needed to speak to realise each others intentions.

"I was wondering… are can I invite Tai to dinner tomorrow?"

Mrs Motomiya peered at her daughter over the rims of her reading glasses.

"You're bringing him to meet me already? You must be serious." 

"I resent that! I always bring my boyfriends to meet you!"

"Not always." Mrs Motomiya said quietly.

And that hurt. It was a reference to Max, of course. Jun never had brought him home. She hadn't thought that taking him to meet her family would have been the best thing to do in the circumstances.

There were times, looking back now, when she had been genuinely happy with his company, though.

=============================================================

Outside the Motomiya's apartment building, a lone figure stood, watching the glow in the window. The mans face was hidden in the recesses of his coat, and he glanced at the street as a car pulled up to the front of the building. The guy glowered, and his hand moved to the short-barrelled .38 revolver in his pocket, as Tai got out of his car, and pressed the button for admittance.

Before he could do anything, however, the buzzer sounded, and Tai entered the apartment block, heading for the elevators.

The figure glared impotently after him, then turned and walked away.

=============================================================

Tai knocked on the apartment door as Jun picked up her coat. 

"Mom, it's not as if you don't know Tai anyway!"

"That's not the point! This is the first time I'm seeing him in official capacity as your boyfriend."

Jun glared at her mother, and opened the door. Tai was standing there, grinning wryly.

"If this is a bad time, I can come back."

"Oh no you don't!" Jun said happily. "You're not getting away from me that easily, Tai Kamiya!"

Mrs Motomiya grinned at the young man over her daughters shoulder.

"Have her back by midnight, or I'll hang you from the balcony by your-"

"MOM!" 

Tai gulped theatrically. 

"In the face of such threats, what can I do? Midnight it is."

=============================================================

Tai Gently pressed his foot down on the accelerator.

"SO, where are we going?" asked Jun.

"Nowhere much. I thought we might catch a movie."

"Any particular one?" 

he flicked his eyes across at her, and grinned.

"Do you think you'll be able to concentrate on the film? You know what goes on in theatres. Especially on the back-"

"Keep going that way, mister, and I'll perform my moms threat myself."

Tai flinched, as that graphic threat came back to haunt him. He sighed.

"I knew I'd regret getting involved with you people."

"Kari didn't."

"Yeah, but I have the benefit of age."

"What about Davis?"

"… And brains."

"Thankyou." Jun acknowledged the correction as the car moved into the main stream of traffic.

=============================================================

The movie was particularly uninspiring, and Tai was still shaking his head as they moved back to the car.

"Erm… the hell?"

"I dunno. I think it had something to do with bunnies."

"Bunnies?"

"Bunnies are the evil spawn of Satan."

"I thought that was Hamtaro."

"I stand corrected."

He laughed, and glanced at his watch.

"Jeez, it's only ten."

"How time flies." Jun said wryly.

He glared at her, and was annoyed by the fact that once again her smile completely disarmed him of any reprise he might have used. He shrugged.

"Do you want to come to my place for a drink? I would offer to go to the pub, but… I want to talk."

"Talk? You, Tai?"

"Well, if I do anything more, your moms threatened to cut off my…"

"A drink… sounds nice, Tai." 

=============================================================

He pulled the car up at the driveway, and got out. Moving around the car, he opened Jun's door with a grand flourish.

"Why, Thankyou sir." She giggled, and got out.

They walked, side by side to the door, but before Tai could open it, Jun grasped his hand.

"Tai…"

"Yeah, Jun?"

"There's something I need to tell you, but… I'm not quite sure whether I should."

He cocked his head to the side quizzically, and fixed her with a look.

"What do you need to tell me, Jun?"

"I… Like you Tai." She paused. "No… it's more than that. I know we haven't been going out long, but in all that's happened, I think… I think I'm…"

She steeled herself.

"… I think I'm in love with you, Tai."

She watched as his eyes widened, and she felt a gaping hole open inside her. She turned away.

"I… I'm sorry. I thought that…"

He grasped her hand tightly, and when she turned back to him, he was smiling broadly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Jun… there's nothing you could have said that would make me happier. This is possibly the high point of my life. Because I love you too, Jun, more than anything."

She smiled, and he leaned forward, and kissed her full on the mouth. She melted into his embrace. They finally separated, and blushed self-consciously. Tai turned and opened the door…

The pair of them suddenly found themselves being pulled roughly inside the house. Jun stumbled, and fell headlong down the hallway. Tai grabbed hold of a radiator, twisted, and looked back. 

Cody was slumped against the wall; a nasty head wound matting his hair with blood. But Tai didn't see that. All he saw was the gaping muzzle of a .38 calibre 'Baby Browning' revolver pointed at his face.

"You Bastard." Said Max. "You Goddamn girl-stealing bastard."

=============================================================

(A/N)

Well, despite the fact that I'm:

A) On holiday, therefore can only get online at the weekend (a fault that I have a cunning plan to solve!)

B) Had my home internet connection severed until this morning.

C) Was too lazy to write anything but filler

I still managed to write a whole chapter for you! Aren't I NICE??????? 

Sorry. I'm a little psychotic over the fact that my folks wont let me on except for weekends, and even then only for half an hour. Damn them. I think I might actually pay for our broadband connection myself, just to shove it in their faces. Then they can pay the same £20 a month they always bloody do.

…heheh. R+R.


	13. how you remind me

Chapter 13:

How You Remind Me.

**********

_It's not like you_

_To say sorry,_

_I was waiting on a different story,_

_And this time I'm mistaken,_

_For handing you a heart worth breaking._

_How you remind me – Nickelback._

_**********_

Tai slowly raised his hands above his head. Behind him, Jun got shakily to her feet.

"Max? What are you doing here?"

He glowered over the barrel of the gun at her.

"I'm here to take you home, Jun. Home with me, where you belong."

She put a hand to her head. Feeling a little dizzy from the bang when she fell, she leaned on the wall.

"Max, We've talked about this…"

"I understand you were upset then, Jun, and I forgive you for it."

"You forgive me???"

"Yes, now get in the car."

"No, Max!"

Tai listened. He had to head of the shouting before Max decided to get trigger-happy.

"Max, is my friend okay?" he said, looking at Cody. The young man hadn't moved.

A momentary flicker of regret crossed Max's face.

"I hadn't counted on anyone else being here. I hit him over the head with my gun."

"Could Jun help him, please? She is a nurse, after all."

Max looked into Tai's face, and the Digidestined kept his face carefully neutral. He couldn't risk anything that might provoke the other man. Finally, Max nodded. Jun moved past him, and knelt by Cody. Max turned back to Tai.

"Why are you doing this, Max? What do you hope to accomplish."

"I told you. Jun belongs with me. Forever."

"Isn't that her choice to make, Max?"

His eyes narrowed, but Tai didn't flinch. He did, however, slowly lower his hands.

"I asked you a question." He said coolly. "Isn't it Jun's choice to make whether or not she's with you?"

"No. She's meant to be with me. I'll make her see that."

"I think her minds fairly clear right now, Max."

"STOP CALLING ME MAX!!" He yelled. 

Tai reeled back, startled slightly by the other mans outburst. The gun waved in his face, and Tai saw that it was cocked. He cursed mentally.

"Stop talking to me like we're friends, Kamiya! Stop trying to screw with my mind!"

Tai's eyes narrowed, and he spat out his acid reply before he could stop himself.

"Personally, I'm too busy concentrating on not being shot by a psychopath."

The gun  stopped waving around, and levelled at his right eye.

"What did you call me?" 

Max's voice was dangerously quiet, and there was a calm lucidity to it that had been absent only seconds earlier. Now Tai started to seriously worry. He remembered his weapons and unarmed combat course. The instructor had been telling them how to handle a situation when your opponent was armed…

"_…if your opponent is carrying a revolver, grab hold of the chamber. If you do that, the gun can't fire for as long as you hold on._"

Of course, the required the guy at the receiving end to be sane, and within reach.

"_The gun cant fire, because the hammer wont go down till the chamber turns…_"

If he made it out of this, he swore that he was gonna kick ten shades of hell out of the next weapons instructor he saw.

Then he saw an orange blur leap from the kitchen. Agumon slashed at Max with his claws, but the small dinosaur Digimon wasn't quite fast enough. The butt of the revolver slammed down onto his head, knocking him to the ground.

But it did give Tai time to make his move. The former cop moved the two paves, and grabbed at Max's gun. He struggled with the other man, concentrating only on wresting the gun away from him. He heard Jun scream. He heard a muffled pop, and grabbed hold of the chambers on the revolver. 

His side felt hot. He wondered why. He pulled hard, and the gun came free from Max's grip. At that moment, Cody, who had just regained consciousness, rose shakily to his feet, and drove his fist into Max's solar plexus. The other man went down, and his head slammed against the wall. Cody looked down in satisfaction.

"Teach you to hit me, asshole."

But Jun was looking at Tai.

"Tai…!" 

"I'll be okay… I just need to… sit down…"

He slumped against the wall, and looked at his hand. Dimly, as if through smoke, he saw that they were stained red. That was strange - they hadn't been red earlier.

He was vaguely aware of Jun embracing him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

=============================================================

"Honestly, Jun, do you have a pathological need to spend time in hospital?"

"Talla, that isn't funny."

The blonde girl grinned wryly.

"I know. I just thought you might like to talk."

Jun sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, where Tai was unconscious, and had been for several hours. The blood transfusion to replace that he had lost in the confrontation with Max had gone according to plan, and now it was just a case of waiting for him to wake up from his dreamless sleep.

"I hear your trying to become a doctor?" Talla inquired.

Jun grinned slightly.

"Yeah. Trying my damnedest – its hard work."

"I imagine it would be. It doesn't happen overnight, you know."

"Yes, I kind of gathered that."

"Do you two have to talk so loud?"

Jun turned, and looked down at Tai, as the man in the bed opened his eyes. Talla pressed the button to call the doctor.

"How do you feel?" Jun asked.

Tai blinked once, and his eyes focused on her.

"Like I've been shot. How about you?"

"I'm relived. You're gonna be okay, Tai."

His voice was croaky.

"Thanks. That's a great relief. What about Max?"

Jun turned away.

"Cody took him down the police station. He's being held there."

"How the hell did he get inside my house? You'd think Cody…"

"Cody'd never seen him before, remember? He was wearing a gas company uniform."

Tai nodded. 

"I'm glad you're okay, Jun."

She didn't reply, but instead leaned over and gently kissed him on the mouth. They were interrupted by the now infamous doctor Krayle.

"Miss Motomiya." He greeted Jun casually, not showing any sign of embarrassment. 

She straightened her hair, and stood. Grinning back at Tai, she headed to the door.

"I'll see you later."

She walked out, and Krayle looked at Tai with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged. 

"It happens sometimes."

=============================================================

Tai had dozed for a while after Krayle had left. His body was still fairly drained from the bullet wound, and his strength was recovering slowly but surely. There was a knock at the door.

"C'mon in."

He didn't know the two men. Both were middle aged, dressed in suits and had an official air about them.

"Taichi Kamiya?"

"Yeah?"

"We're from police administration. We've come to offer you a job."

That was it. No runaround, no stalling, straight in with the subject. 

"What kind of job?"

"We heard about the way you handled the situation at your home. We'd like to offer you a position in our hostage negotiation team."

"Sounds interesting. What's the catch."

"No catch. But if you decide to sign up you're going to have to leave for Tokyo almost immediately."

Tai stopped.

"Tokyo?"

"Yes, that's where we're based."

"How long have I got to think it over."

"Until tomorrow."

The two men turned and left. Tai looked down at his hands.

"What the hell am I gonna tell Jun?" 

=============================================================

(A/N)

Phew, and another chapter done. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last one, and all through this fic. I have a feeling the next chapter will wind this story to a close, and then, since I've finished my other big story, I have no idea WHAT THE HELL I'm gonna do.

Oh… I've got a couple of links for ya!

The first is to my site, which I want everyone to visit:

http://www.digifictiondomain.tk

The second is to my online diary, where you can read about my exploits from new years eve. MUCH VODKA INDUCED CHAOS:

http://www.ujournal.org/users/moose_of_doom

and the third is my email address, which is the only one I can currently access. Heh.

myatb001@medway.org.uk

Ja ne!


	14. A little help from my friends

Chapter 14: 

A little help from my friends.

**********

_What do I do when my love is away?_

_(Does it worry you to be alone?)_

_How do I feel by the end of the day?_

_(Are you sad because you're on your own?)_

_No,_

_I get by with a little help from my friends._

_Mmm, get high with a little help from my friends._

_Oh, gonna try with a little help from my friends._

_ _

_A little help from my friends – the Beatles._

_**********_

"Tokyo?" Jun said weakly.

Tai sat across the table from her, his eyes downcast. 

"Tokyo?" Jun repeated. "When were you gonna tell me, Tai, when you were boarding the plane?"

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?"

"Oh, Thanks. That's a really great comfort. You're supposed to decide by tomorrow!"

"Hey, I only got the offer today!"

Part of Jun knew she was being irrational, unfair even. It wasn't Tai's fault. However, he was the one here, and for the sake of convenience, he was he only one she could vent her sudden anger on.

"So what, you're just gonna pack up and leave? So long and farewell?" she snapped.

He glared at her, anger mirroring her own blazing in his eyes.

"Well, at the moment, honey, you ain't exactly making a good case for me to stay!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"From the second I told you, you've just been having a go at me!"

"What did you expect? A party?"

"A little congratulations at being offered my dream job might be nice!"

"And suddenly your dream job takes precedence?!?"

"And Why not?"

"For Chrissakes, Tai, you told me you loved me Yesterday! Now, because some goddamn job offer comes in, you're ready to leave at the drop of a hat!"

"That's not fair!"

"Oh no? Then why are we having this conversation?"

"I didn't think we were anymore! I thought we'd just descended into shouting at each other now!"

Jun stood, kicking her chair back to fall with a clatter on the kitchen floor of Tai's house.

"You know what? SCREW YOU, TAICHI KAMIYA!" she yelled.

"HEY, YOU TOLD ME YOU LOVE ME TOO!"

"YEAH, WELL I GUESS I WAS AN IDIOT THEN, WASN'T I???"

She ran out of the Kitchen door, leaving him sitting there. Unlike the last time this had happened, he made no move to follow her. He heard the front door slam, and still he sat there fuming. He remained there even as he heard the car outside pull away. Finally, he stood.

"GODDAMMIT!!!" 

With the sudden epithet, he slammed his fist into the kitchen cabinet, neatly punching a hole in the wood. Aside from that, the only thing he accomplished was to bruise his knuckles.

Muttering curses, he moved through to the lounge, where Cody sat, Idly flicking through channels on the TV.

"You heard?"

"I think half of the Hemisphere heard, Tai." The younger man said, his eyes not moving from the screen. "What are you gonna do now?"

Tai moved past him, to his customary chair. Reaching behind it, he pulled out the now-framed version of the sketch he had drawn almost three weeks ago. As he looked at the still, lifeless face contained on the paper, he felt a deep misery begin to set into his soul.

"Well?" Cody asked again.

"What do you think?" Tai said Acidly. "I'm gonna go pack."

=============================================================

Jun didn't even give her summary call of greeting to her mother as she walked in through the front door of their apartment. Instead, she went straight into her room, slamming the door behind her. Barely losing momentum, she leapt facelong onto the bed, and buried her tears in her pillow.

"Jun, honey?"

Mrs Motomiya gently pushed open the door, and came in. sitting on the narrow bed, next to her daughter, she asked the immortal question in these situations.

"Jun, are you alright?"

"He told me he loved me, mom! He told me he loved me and now he's leaving!"

"What? Who told you? Tai?"

"Yeah! But he got a job offer in Tokyo, and he's leaving this afternoon!"

"Jun, do you love him?"

Jun was silent. The question was blunt, and there had been no beating around the bush. Normally her mother covered her feelings with jokes and sarcastic comments. So she lay there, headlong, with her mother gently stroking her hair, trying to stem the flow of tears.

"I do, mom. I love him more than anything."

"DO you think you should tell him that, then?" 

"I cant! I yelled at him a lot before I left!"

"Jun, if me and your father had spent all our time together without yelling at each other, we wouldn't have lasted a week in a relationship. The thing about arguments with the one you love is to forgive, and get stronger. Eventually, the arguments stop, because you realise that there's no point in having them."

Jun looked up with red-rimmed eyes, and glanced at the clock.

"But he's leaving in an hour!"

"Then you'd better hurry, hadn't you?"

She winked at Jun.

"I'll drive."

=============================================================

Tai slung the last of his clothing unceremoniously into the suitcase. By the time he was packed, he only had about half an hour to get to the airport. He slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed for the door.

"You wanna lift?" called Cody.

"If you don't mind." Tai said disconsolately. 

The younger man came out of the lounge. He was holding the framed picture of Jun.

"What do you want to do with this?"

"…Can you give it to her? I don't think she'd appreciate it if I did."

"Sure." Cody paused. "You couldn't have stopped her, y'know."

"But I should've, Cody. I should've."

"You did the best you could, Tai."

Tai was silent, lost in his own thoughts. He glanced at his watch.

"C'mon. We'd better go, or I'll miss my flight."

=============================================================

He stood there at the terminal, as the two men from the administration department stood beside him impatiently.

"Are you ready to go, Mr Kamiya?"

Tai turned, his face Melancholy.

"Yeah, lets go. I don't want to stay here any longer."

He turned, and walked through the gate.

=============================================================

Mrs Motomiya pulled the car into the lot at lightening speed, barely stopping as she recognised the figure approaching them.

Cody, as usual, appeared completely unruffled by their sudden appearance. Before Jun could open her mouth, he held up a hand to stop her.

"Spare me. He's at Terminal six. If you hurry you'll be able to stop him."

Jun nodded.

"Thankyou, Cody."

She tore of towards the terminal, leaving Mrs Motomiya and Cody standing there.

"You realise that those two are probably gonna drive each other nuts?" Mrs Motomiya asked the young man.

Cody shrugged.

"Ah, what the hell. I was thinking of moving into my own place anyway."

Jun's mother grinned at him, and jogged after her daughter.

=============================================================

Jun ran through the crowds, heading towards the gate that led to the passenger loading area of Terminal six. A burly security guard stepped out to bar her way.

"Please, I've got to get through!"

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but without a ticket, I can't let you into this area."

"Then I'll pay for a ticket!"

"Tickets are bought over at the desk on the other side of the building Ma'am, and this flight is preparing to leave."

"Excuse me?"

The security guard sighed, and turned to look at Mrs Motomiya.

"My Daughter is here on a matter of great urgency. Do you think you could make an exception this time?"

"I'm sorry ma'am. I cant do that."

"Okay, let me put it this way. You WILL let my daughter through."

She seized the front of his shirt, and pulled him forward, almost of balance, until they were eye to eye.

"Unless you want to spend the next three months eating your food through a straw, is that clear?"

"Er… Yes Ma'am!"

"Go, Jun!"

Jun tore through the gate, pushing through the barrier that separated the passengers from the observers…

Just in time to see the plane building speed towards the end of the runway. She could only stand and stare as the aircraft lifted into the sky, on the thrust of its engines. She felt the tears start to form at the corners of her eyes. Behind her, at the gate, she heard the guard speaking into his radio, calling for extra security. Around her, people were waving at the jet, families of people who could no longer see them. She couldn't hear them any more. All the sound faded out, as she watched the vapour trails form behind the jet, marking its passage through the air.

A hand pressed on her arm, and at first she presumed it was a security guard.

"I'm sorry. It was a wasted effort."

"Now, that's not a very nice thing to say, Jun Motomiya." Replied a soft voice.

Slowly, she turned, and looked up into Tai Kamiya's face, which like hers was wet with tears.

"Tai?" she whispered.

"No, I'm your fairy godmother. And you shall go to the ball, Cinderella."

Suddenly, and without any warning, he swept her into his arms, hugging her close.

"Oh, Jun, I'm sorry. I was such an idiot earlier."

"No, Tai…"

"Yes, I was. I forgot what was really important to me. I almost left the only things I really care about here in Odaiba."

"But… your job…"

"There'll be other Jobs, Jun." 

His brown eyes locked with hers.

"But there's only one of you."

Unnoticed, Mrs Motomiya was calmly allowing herself to be escorted away by two of the security guards.

"I'll take it from here, guys." Came a sardonic voice.

"I cant allow that, sir." Replied the burly guard who had blocked Jun's way.

"Hey, what's this?" Cody replied. "I do believe that it's an Odaiba Police Department badge, that just happens to have my number and ID with it! How about that?"

He flashed the badge at the guards.

"Let the lady go, before I go to your supervisor."

The guards let go. Cody calmly took Mrs Motomiya's arm, and walked back towards the gate.

Jun reached a hand up, and gently brushed away the tears that were leaking from Tai's eyes. She smiled.

"I love you, Taichi Kamiya."

"I love you too, Jun Motomiya. Am I forgiven?"

"Was there anything to forgive?"

"I guess not." 

Tai turned to look at the suited police administrators. He saluted, a gesture that the two men returned with broad smiles on their faces.

"Sorry sir. I guess you're gonna have to find someone else to fill that job."

"I guess so, Mr Kamiya. Congratulations."

"Thankyou sir."

Tai took Jun's arm, and walked away towards the barrier that Jun had pushed through barely minutes before. The first Administrator turned to the second.

"I suppose we'd better be going."

"Yup."

They turned and walked away.

=============================================================

The four of them walked out to the cars. Tai and Jun were lost in each other, walking hand in hand. Cody walked along at Tai's side, his hands in his pockets. On the other side, Mrs Motomiya, in her Jeans and Turtleneck, was grinning at the two lovers. Cody walked over to his car, and pulled open the back door.

"Before you two go all mushy on us…"

"Go?" muttered Jun's mother under her breath.

"… I suppose I'd better dump this on you."

He pulled out the framed picture, and passed it over to Tai. Strangely, the older man blushed deeply. 

"Huh? What is it, Tai?" Jun asked.

Embarrassed, Tai handed the picture to her. Jun's jaw dropped.

"Oh Tai… it's beautiful."

"I had a good model." He grinned.

=============================================================================

(A/N)

Fear not! The next chapter is the epilogue, and the one after that is all the thankyous. 


	15. Epilogue

_Epilogue: 1 year later._

Tai sat at his desk, and closed the case file in front of him. Shortly after their reunion at the airport, Ken had decided to finally form the PI Agency he had been intending to start for years. Among the first people he had approached had been Tai and Cody. 

"Hey, Daydreamer!"

Tai looked up with a glare at Cody. The other man was grinning at him slyly.

"You done with those case files yet? I want to get tour evidence together before I head over to the courtroom." 

Cody, with his Law qualifications, was officially the agencies Legal head. He was good enough at the groundwork to pull his weight, though. Tai grinned, and unceremoniously frisbeed the file towards his friend. he stood.

"Where are you going?" asked the younger man.

"I've got a lunch date with Jun."

"Ah, young love." Cody said in a mocking tone.

"I don't see you and Talla complaining…"

Cody blushed a deep shade of crimson.

"Cody, I work as a detective, and it's my girlfriends best friend. Did you think I wouldn't guess?"

"Oh, sod off. I hope you choke on your lunch."

Tai laughed, and stepped out of the office. Ten minutes later at Liam's, he was sitting down opposite Jun. He smiled.

"You would not have BELIEVED the look on Cody's face when I left him."

Jun looked shocked.

"You didn't?"

"Hey, I've gotta have some fun. After all, I'm about to make a big decision."

His girlfriend looked suspicious.

"About what?"

"Actually, you're the one making the decision."

Tai reached into his pocket, and got down on one knee. Opening the little box, he allowed the plain golden ring to reveal itself to the noonday air. Jun gasped.

"Jun, will you marry me?"

She looked shocked for a couple of seconds. Then she grinned mischievously.

"I'll think about it."

"You'll think about it???"

"You never know, I might get a better offer." She laughed. "Of course I will, Tai!"

He grinned, and slipped the ring onto her finger. He stood, and held out his hand towards her. Some of the regular patrons at the pub were grinning, and nodding at them. Liam came out from the kitchen.

"Sit your arses down." He growled. "I hope you're proud of yourselves. Now I'm obliged to give you free champagne."

He grinned, and turned to head for the wine-coolers behind the bar. Jun grinned across the table at her new fiancé. 

"So, we made it this far, huh?"

"I guess we did. We needed a little help at time, but we made it."

Then he leaned across, and kissed her gently on the lips, as the pub finally erupted into applause.

***

_THE END._

***

=============================================================================

(A/N)

And so ends my first full length Taijun fic. Needless, to say, I've been remarkably surprised at how well it was received! It's been a long, almost 4 months writing it, but I hope you weren't disappointed. I enjoyed writing this fic a lot.

The proper thankyou's are next, but I'd like to thank all who reviewed.


	16. THANK YOU!

# THANK YOUS

Fuchan: for your endless support, threats and caring, and for making my site and this fic what it is. You've influenced me more than you know.

Kaeera: for being a constant friend, reviewer, and providing me with support when I needed it the most.

Khatt: for providing me with entertaining reviews, and pointing out my bloody plot holes.

Lord Omnimon: for being the first person from the Digicpls board to review, that I know of, and writing a bloody great essay for your review.

Anthony: for being a constant supporter, and pointing out the obvious in your reviews ^^. Just kidding, thanks a lot, man.

Katie: for being my weird little psycho sister, and proofreading the chapters, irritatingly pointing out my slight fluctuations in Grammar. Damn you.

Everyone over at the Daikari Writers Union: For giving me so much entertainment.

Ryan AKA Bodrj: For giving me some of the most honest criticism I've ever encountered. Thanks mate.

TO EVERYONE ELSE WHO REVIEWED: Thankyou all from the bottom of my heart. theres no way I could have carried on through a killer case of writers block to finish writing this fic without you. Luv ya all.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, DON'T HESITATE TO MAIL ME AT:

myatb001@medway.org.uk

OR YOU CAN USE MY SITE FORUMS IF YOU GO TO:

http://www.digifictiondomain.tk


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